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Earlier this year, WordPressers around the globe united to celebrate 20 years of community and innovation. There were parties, blogs, videos, and social media posts aplenty. And, of course, the trending hashtag, “#WP20”. Throughout April and May, community members reflected on their journeys – what brought them to WordPress and its personal meaning. The stories, tweets, and videos were inspiring, nostalgic, and even humorous at times. There was swag, and the cakes were epic. Let’s take a look! On WordPress turning 20, and the Audrey Scholars program: https://t.co/Etwh8H6xh4 — Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) May 27, 2023 WordPress celebrates 20 years tomorrow. It's grown from a comment on a blog post to a web spanning phenomenon. Thanks to an outstanding community and the freedoms of Open Source. Happy Birthday, WordPress! #WP20 #WordPress pic.twitter.com/fght4XMJXb — Mike Little (@mikelittlezed1) May 26, 2023 Look at this cute #WP20 cake from @RicksBakery! pic.twitter.com/f88H3usR5R — Josepha Haden Chomphosy (@JosephaHaden) May 27, 2023 Tenemos regalitos para los que vengáis esta tarde a la Meetup.#WP20 pic.twitter.com/PSPsbWluv7 — Meetup WordPress Torrelodones (@WPTorrelodones) June 22, 2023 So @WordPress is turning 20 years old today! #WP20 Happy birthday to WordPress and its entire community! from me and @MariekeRakt pic.twitter.com/9N9T0SnsdL — Joost de Valk (@jdevalk) May 27, 2023 Happy 20th birthday, @WordPress! Our Cebu meetup was a success! …and our community is growing. Thanks to #enspaceCebu for hosting our party! #WP20 #WordPressCebu #WPCebu pic.twitter.com/TUFoKjuoxq — Cebu WordPress Meetup (@WPCebu) June 3, 2023 I'm sure you've seen by now, but today is WordPress' 20th birthday! Thank you to @photomatt and @mikelittlezed1 for following through with a seemingly wild idea. I don't think anyone could have predicted we'd end up where we are today. Happy birthday @WordPress! #WP20 pic.twitter.com/tAZRlYThuS — Jon Desrosiers (@desrosj) May 28, 2023 Hier ist der Recap vom letzten Zürcher #WordPress #Meetup im @westhive inkl. Audioaufzeichnungen und Slides der Präsentationen, sowie ein paar visuellen Eindrücken des Abends. #BBQ #WP20 https://t.co/IycEcb4DQL — WordPress Zürich (@wpzurich) June 30, 2023 #WCEU #WCEU2023 #WP20 pic.twitter.com/Uodqd2OotM — Osom Studio WordPress & WooCommerce Agency (@OSOM_STUDIO) June 10, 2023 Celebrating #WP20 at #WCEU with @photomatt @JosephaHaden @matias_ventura pic.twitter.com/9LM9HnEfYn — Felix Arntz (@felixarntz) June 10, 2023 Want to see more tweets? Check out the tweet wall here. Bits & Bytes Official website for WP20 The #WP20 hashtag was used at least 18,000 times between March 1 and June 8, 2023 on social peaking on May 27 with at least 2,700+ metions 165+ meetups took place to celebrate WP20 At least 4,661 people attended a meetup across six continents 100+ kits of swag were shipped to meetup organizers Want more social media for WordPress? Check out the official accounts here: Twitter Instagram Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Pinterest Tumblr Snapshots from WP20 Celebrations Props WP20 celebrations, swag, websites, social media, graphics, and so much more could not have happened without the wonderful contributions of so many. Beyond the organizers of the 165+ events, there were many people working behind the scenes to ensure WordPress got the recognition it deserved. Thank you to everyone who worked behind the scenes to organize the meetups, create swag, and to spread the word. Some of these hardworking folks include: Mark Andrew, Joen Asmussen, Tino Barreiro, Chloe Bringmann, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Cate DeRosia, Em DeRosia, Beatriz Fialho, Nicholas Garofalo, Nyasha Green, Nick Hamze, Meagan Hanes, Kelly Hoffman, Pablo Honey, Santana Inniss, Marko Ivanovic, Angela Jin, Winston Koone, Megan Marcel, Jenni McKinnon, Brett McSherry, Jonathan Pantani, Se Reed, Lauren Stein, Francisco Vera, Andrew Wikel, and Adam Wood. Some More Fun A WordPress event is not complete without a Wapuu, and not only was there one, but there was a whole campaign to color it in! Thanks to Em DeRosia for creating the commemorative Wapuu! The Marketing team ran an interactive campaign, From Blogs to Blocks, a series of prompts across 20 days for WordPress enthusiasts to celebrate all-things WordPress. Additional campaigns took place on social media and included prompting folks to share their favorite WordPress memory and most cherished WordPress swag item, to highlight the 21 contributing teams, and even to share a birthday greeting. My fav #WordPress swag, which I use daily! This was the speaker swag from #WCBos 2019. @melchoyce, I think you designed this stunning logo? #WP20 https://t.co/1sEIEMGzM9 pic.twitter.com/F0ufF9msqP — Angela Jin (@AngelaSJin) April 25, 2023 We had lots of digital goodies too! From 3D desktop wallpaper, to selfie-props for the celebrations, and more. You can download them here. Got Swag? Need Swag? It’s not too late to order your WP20 commemorative items. Find shirts, stickers, and more, while supplies last! See you in five years for the 25th! Sign up here to stay in the “know”! Type your email… Subscribe View the full article

Say hello to WordPress 6.3 “Lionel,” named after Lionel Hampton, the celebrated American jazz artist. A prolific jazz vibraphonist, pianist, and percussionist, Hampton gained notoriety working in harmony with greats from Charles Mingus to Quincy Jones and as bandleader of the eponymous Lionel Hampton Orchestra. His artistry and charitable work have been recognized with a Grammy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the National Medal of Arts. Be sure to turn up the volume of the musical stylings of Lionel Hampton as you discover all “Lionel” has to offer. With “Lionel” you can create beautiful and compelling websites more efficiently than ever. Whether you want to build an entire site without coding or are a developer looking to customize every detail, WordPress 6.3 has something to pique your interest. As you unpack and explore this latest release, you will discover updated functions and navigation designed to help you work and create with less effort, design tools that give you more control over layout, and added functionality enriching the site-building experience. “Lionel” marks a major chapter in the evolution of WordPress as a tool for expression. It’s the culmination of years of work from hundreds of contributors, bringing a more powerful and cohesive editing experience for crafting websites with blocks. It continues the quest of making web publishing approachable for everyone—so it’s also just a new beginning! Matías Ventura, WordPress 6.3 Release Lead Download WordPress 6.3 “Lionel” today What’s inside This momentous release opens new possibilities for the creative expression of designers, creators, and builders. Powerful tools and refined controls give users confidence and allow them to easily manage their sites. Do everything in the Site Editor WordPress 6.3 brings your content, templates, and patterns together in the Site Editor for the first time. Add pages, browse style variations, create synced patterns, and enjoy fine-tuned control over navigation menus. Spend less time switching across different site areas—so you can focus on what matters most. Creation to completion, all in one place. Do everything with the Site Editor Preview Block themes Experience block themes before you switch and preview the Site Editor, with options to customize directly before committing to a new theme. Preview a new block theme before you switch and commit Create and sync patterns Arrange blocks and save them to the ‘My Patterns’ section for use throughout your site. You can even specify whether to sync your patterns (previously referred to as “Reusable blocks”) so that one change applies to all parts of your site. Or, utilize patterns as a starting point with the ability to customize each instance. My patterns: All your patterns in one place Work faster with the Command Palette Switch to a specific template or open your editor preferences with a new tool that helps you quickly access expanded functionality. With simple keyboard shortcuts (⌘+k on Mac or Ctrl+k on Windows), clicking the sidebar search icon in Site View, or clicking the Title Bar, get where you need to go and do what you need to do in seconds. Get to know the new Command Palette Sharpen your designs with new tools New design controls bring more versatility for fine-tuning, starting with the ability to customize your captions from the Styles interface without coding. You can manage your duotone filters in Styles for supported blocks and pick from the options provided by your theme or disable them entirely. The Cover block gets added settings for text color, layout controls, and border options, making this powerful block even more handy. New design tools Track design changes with Style revisions With a new audit trail, you can now see how your site looked at a specific time. Visualize these revisions in a timeline and access a one-click option to restore prior styles. Style revisions: See your style revision history Annotate with the Footnotes block Footnotes add convenient annotations throughout your content. Now you can add and link footnotes for any paragraph. Add footnotes effortlessly with the new Footnotes Block Show or hide content with the Details block Use the Details block to avoid spoiling a surprise, create an interactive Q&A section, or hide a long paragraph under a heading. Display or hide content with the new Details Block Performance gets a boost WordPress 6.3 has 170+ performance updates, including defer and async support for the Scripts API and fetchpriority support for images. These improvements, along with block template resolution, image lazy-loading, and the emoji loader, can dramatically improve your website’s perceived load time. Accessibility remains a core focus Incorporating more than 50 accessibility improvements across the platform, WordPress 6.3 is more accessible than ever. Improved labeling, optimized tab and arrow-key navigation, revised heading hierarchy, and new controls in the admin image editor allow those using assistive technologies to navigate more easily. Other highlights Set aspect ratio on images Specify your aspect ratios and ensure design integrity, especially when using images in patterns. Build your site distraction-free Distraction-free designing is now available in the Site Editor. Rediscover the Top Toolbar A revamped Top Toolbar offers parent selectors for nested blocks, options when selecting multiple blocks, and an interface embedded into the title bar with new functionality in mind. List View improvements Drag and drop to every content layer and delete any block you would like in the updated List View. Build templates with Patterns Create unique patterns to jumpstart template creation with a new modal enabling access to pattern selection. Changes in PHP support Support for PHP 5 is discontinued. The new minimum supported version of PHP is 7.0.0. Failed update safeguards WordPress will now auto-restore the previously installed version of plugins or themes if something goes wrong during a failed manual update. Learn more about WordPress and 6.3 Explore Learn WordPress for quick how-to videos, online workshops, and other resources to level up your knowledge of the latest features in WordPress. Check out the WordPress 6.3 Field Guide for detailed developer notes to help you build with WordPress and get the most out of the latest release. Read the 6.3 release notes for additional technical details about this release, including feature recaps, installation information, file changes, fixes, and updates. Read and subscribe to the Developer Blog for even more helpful WordPress content. WordPress is a global software platform 61 locales have translated 90 percent or more of WordPress 6.3 into their language. Community translators are working hard to ensure more translations are on their way. Thank you, gracias, ありがとう, धन्यवाद, and ευχαριστώ to everyone who helps to make WordPress available in 200 languages. Contributing to WordPress WordPress believes in democratizing publishing and the freedoms that come with open source. Supporting this idea is a large community of people collaborating to strengthen the software. A big thank you to everyone who makes WordPress. Our community of contributors has always been what makes WordPress wonderful. You are what makes sure our project continues to thrive, and our software remains secure, usable, and impactful. Thank you so much for joining together to make the web (and the world) a better place! Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director, WordPress.org WordPress 6.3 arrives thanks to more than 650 contributors’ collective passion and effort in at least 52 countries. This release also includes over 205 first-time contributors! The 6.3 release squad The 6.3 release was led from start to launch by an active set of contributors from across many disciplines. Over several weeks, they kept the release on track and moving forward by connecting ideas, resolving issues, and removing roadblocks. Release Lead: Matías Ventura Release Coordinators: Francesca Marano, Héctor Prieto Core Tech Leads: Andrew Ozz, Mike Schroder, David Baumwald Editor Tech Leads: Isabel Brison, Ramon Dodd Core Triage Leads: Jb Audras, Ahmed Kabir Chaion, Mukesh Panchal, Olga Glecker Editor Triage Leads: Anne McCarthy, Birgit Pauli-Haack, Firoz Sabaliya, Nick Diego Documentation Leads: Femy Praseeth, Steven Lin, Leonardus Nugraha, Mushrit Shabnam Marketing & Communications Leads: Dan Soschin, Jonathan Pantani, Meher Bala Test Leads: Brian Alexander, Pooja Derashri, Chris Malone, Piotrek Boniu Design Leads: Tammie Lister, Rich Tabor Performance Leads: Felix Arntz, Emily Clarke 6.3 contributors Complimenting the release squad is a diverse group of contributors whose global collaboration delivered hundreds of enhancements and fixes, ensuring a stable release for all—a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community. 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Get involved today If contributing to WordPress appeals to you, learning more and getting involved is easy. Discover the teams that come together to Make WordPress and explore the product roadmap on the core development blog. You can also use this interactive tool to help you decide which team is right for you. Looking toward the future 20 years ago this past May, WordPress shipped the very first version, 0.7. What started with a blog post from co-founder Matt Mullenweg and a subsequent comment by co-founder Mike Little eventually evolved into the world’s most popular web publishing platform. WordPress software continues to evolve and iterate based on the needs and desires of its robust and diverse user community. This release is the capstone of Phase 2 along the WordPress development roadmap. As the community looks to the future, all efforts turn to 6.4 and, subsequently, the transition into Phase 3, which is expected to introduce powerful collaboration tools to the website creation and management experience. 6.3 Haiku A capstone release Ships tools for building great sites Collaboration View the full article

As the world’s most popular open source content management system, WordPress acknowledges the European Union’s initiative to bolster the cybersecurity of digital hardware and software products with the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The Act’s effort to counter the increasing threat of cyberattacks and promote informed usage of digital products with increased security updates and transparency is commendable. While we wholly endorse the objectives of the CRA, we are apprehensive about the Act’s implications on open source software due to unclear terms and definitions. Specifically, the Act’s prohibition on “unfinished software” and ambiguous definition of “commercial activity” could inadvertently inhibit innovation and economic participation in the European digital landscape. Open source projects, like WordPress, often rely on continual updates and improvements—a process that may technically fall under the label of “unfinished.” Furthermore, the ambiguous definition of “commercial activity” could unintentionally encompass open source projects that are largely driven by communities and operate on a not-for-profit basis. Our letter to the EU Commission We have jointly authored an open letter addressing these concerns alongside fellow open source projects Drupal, Joomla!, and TYPO31. The letter emphasizes the significant contribution of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to the EU’s economy and how the proposed regulations might undermine these efforts. Our shared goal is to further bolster the security of digital products without compromising the values of freedom, democracy, and innovation inherent to both the open source community and the EU’s Aims and Values. The letter invites the EU Commission and interested parties to participate in a seminar in Brussels to discuss how we can align the objectives of the CRA with the realities and needs of the FOSS community. We are optimistic that, with mutual understanding and cooperation, we can achieve secure digital products without limiting the vital contributions of open source projects. Read the letter Drupal, Joomla!, TYPO3, and WordPress are the most popular FOSS content management systems on the web today. While all are based on the PHP programming language and distributed under the GPL open source license, each platform takes a different approach to website publishing. With strength in diversity, they form the Inter-CMS Working Group, promoting the values and benefits of free and open source software. ︎ View the full article

WordPress 6.3 RC3 is ready for download and testing. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC3 on a test server and site. The WordPress 6.3 release is scheduled for August 8, 2023—just one week away. Now is your last opportunity to test it before the general release. For a deeper look into this release, read this overview of the 6.3 release cycle, check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts, review new features in WordPress 6.3, or watch a recorded demo. What’s new since RC2 Since the RC2 release on July 25, 2023, there have been approximately 14 issues resolved in Github and Trac. To prepare for 6.3 general availability, RC3 also addresses several bugs and adds fixes for retrieving templates (#4940) and resolving child theme issues (#53138). Thank you for testing, WordPressers! Developers and extenders should review the comprehensive WordPress 6.3 Field Guide for detailed technical notes regarding new features and improvements. Ways to contribute WordPress is open source software made possible by the community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline a variety of ways you can help, regardless of your technical expertise. Download RC3 for testing You can test WordPress 6.3 RC3 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the RC3 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-RC3 Keep WordPress bug-free—help with testing Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too. Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel in Making WordPress Slack. Search for vulnerabilities The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Update your theme or plugin Do you build themes or plugins? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide. This is your final opportunity to test your latest versions against RC3. You will want to continue your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3. If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums. Help translate WordPress Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Português? Русский? 日本? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. Release the haiku Phase two, soon complete A monumental release Then onto six-four. Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @Meher, @DanSoschin, and @jpantani View the full article

From administrator to web developer thanks to the supportive WordPress community. Through learning from other software users in Pakistan, Ihtisham Zahoor knew that his life would change. He moved cities and careers to make his life through open source. The People of WordPress series shares inspiring stories of how people’s lives can change for the better through WordPress and its global community of contributors. Ihtisham, from Haripur, a city in northern Pakistan, said: “The WordPress community made me a firm believer in the power of open source software. This is why I am an enthusiast and one who enjoys contributing back to the community via writing, speaking, and helping organize meetups.” When Ihtisham discovered WordPress, his fascination for working with computing grew. He knew he did not want to just work in administration his entire career. Ihitsham describes himself as an ‘introvert’ and therefore the idea of remote work appealed as he could still add value to others through technology. He was intrigued by the thought of the freedom to choose his work hours. However, without access to others who had already transformed their careers and lives through web development, he felt he ‘had no path to follow to turn my dream into a reality.’ Challenges become opportunities to learn when there is an active community Lacking any kind of informed support network to advise or guide him, Ihtisham devoted time to online research to find the next steps he could take. Looking back, he believes that for those who are not in a network with others with similar interests, it can be hard to keep learning and experimenting with new things. Isolation can be a barrier to working in web development. He said: “I think it is not easy to stay motivated when there aren’t immediate rewards for the hard work we do. Sometimes, weeks would go by when my only focus would be to stay motivated rather than give up.” After another two years of combining learning and work, Ihtisham took up using WordPress as a full-time career. He moved to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. It was not easy at first. He recalls: “After many failed attempts at getting hired and desperate moments, I finally received an offer from a digital agency as a web developer focused on the WordPress platform.” He added: “Moving to work with a bigger agency was one of the best decisions of my life as it helped me with my professional growth by becoming familiar with the whole WordPress ecosystem in a supportive environment. I was valued for my opinions in the web projects in which I was involved. I was also appreciated and encouraged for the open source work I did for the company.” He summarized his enthusiasm for WordPress like this: “It is really interesting figuring out what is happening in the backends. I like problem-solving and finding solutions which you can do with WordPress.” During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ihtisham moved to join a start-up based in his hometown which provides web development services to international clients. He works as a developer and has the opportunity to learn more about client communication and project management. “WordPress has opened up so many opportunities for me. It has been an exciting journey for me with lots of learning every day,” he said. In particular, he has discovered an interest in APIs and regularly uses his spare time to follow tickets in the hope of one day contributing even more to topics, such as, third-party app integration through APIs on WordPress sites. Give back through WordPress community It was not just software that made a difference in Ihtisham’s life. Joining a welcoming and sharing community was transforming for him. Recalling those early days of isolation, he values the WordPress community and is wholly committed to the power of open-source software. He now enjoys writing, speaking, and organizing meetups to give back to both to the community. He has written software for the platform and contributes to the Core work, which he describes as a ‘humbling’ experience. He is fond of WordCamp Islamabad and in 2023 is on the organizing team to help bring both WordPress and its community to others in Pakistan. “My first experience,” he said, “was that everyone was so friendly and open to sharing what they have learned, even though they were all busy working. This really had an impact on me. It really helped me and gave me the confidence that I could work with WordPress…. It was a real step forward for me joining this community.” A particular meeting in 2018 led to new friendships through the WordPress community. Ihtisham was on a train to Karachi for the first ever Pakistani WordCamp in 2018 and met a group of fellow attendees he now regards as close friends. What impressed him most about the camp was that although he met many people with considerable expertise, they also had a generosity of spirit and humbleness in their willingness to share this knowledge. in sharing it. Now, he and this group of friends make a point to taking trains across the country, which allows him to fulfil another dream of traveling widely. He says these things and other ‘side benefits’ have been made possible by the WordPress community, and for that, he is ‘forever grateful’. Ihtisham particularly wanted to share his story through this People of WordPress article to encourage those starting with little or no support to remain persistent. He knows from experience breaking into the tech world can be hard, especially when you may be switching from doing something else and have no ‘track record’ to offer. He feels he is a living example of how perseverance can lead to success. He offers these words to anyone thinking of making a move into development using the WordPress platform: “I attribute my success (financial and mental well-being) to the open-source nature of WordPress and its amazing community. It would not be possible to learn and use the plethora of free tools WordPress provides if it weren’t an open-source platform. It is for that reason I feel obligated to contribute back to this platform to the best of my abilities.” To those who are finding getting going difficult, as he did, he adds: “Get yourself a clear learning path and just dive in doing WordPress, and things will get better for you over time as they were for me, I promise. Good Luck!” Share the stories Help share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the People of WordPress series. To help you discover more about how to use the WordPress software, there is a free resource from the community, Learn.WordPress.org Contributors Thanks to Ihtisham Zahoor (@shaampk1 ) for sharing about his adventures in WordPress. Thank you to Abha Thakor (@webcommsat ), Nalini Thakor (@nalininonstopnewsuk ), and Meher Bala (@meher ) for interviews, the feature and collaborating on images, to Chloe Bringmann (@cbringmann ), Mary Baum (@marybaum ), Mark Smallman (@marks99 ) and Maja Loncar (@majaloncar) for help with reviews. Thanks to the late Surendra Thakor (@sthakor ), Maedah Bahtool (@maedahbahtool ) and other members of the Marketing and Polyglots Team for their contributions. The People of WordPress series thanks Josepha Haden (@chanthaboune ) and Topher DeRosia (@topher1kenobe ) for their support. This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. #HeroPress View the full article

Synced patterns are replacing Reusable blocks, offering a unified creation experience for new pattern functionality coming to WordPress 6.3. Patterns, first introduced in WordPress 5.5, are a collection of blocks that make it simple to add complex layouts and designs to any WordPress site without starting from scratch. With WordPress 6.3, set to be released on August 8th, you will be able to arrange blocks in unlimited ways and save them as patterns for use throughout your site, directly within the editing experience. You can also specify whether to sync your patterns, so that one change applies to all parts of your site, or to keep them unsynced, so you can customize each instance. Create your own patterns The ability to create your own patterns, on top of using the ones bundled into each WordPress release, opens up a world of possibilities. Need to repeat the same contact information across your site and keep it up to date? Create a synced pattern with all the details, and say goodbye to repeating yourself, with the ability to quickly insert the synced pattern wherever you need it. If you find yourself creating various banners for your site and want them to have the same layout with unique content, creating an unsynced pattern speeds up your workflow and ensures a level of consistency in approach. While themes and plugins have been able to offer patterns to users and curate the experience, this update allows agencies and site builders to do the same for their clients, directly in the site building process. Dig into the details Any previously made Reusable blocks will continue to function as they do now, just under the new Synced pattern name. To help adjust to these changes, a few contextual notices will be placed throughout the interface. Specifically, the menu item in the creation flow will show as “Create pattern/reusable block” until the prompt describing the switch is dismissed in one of the various locations, including the naming and syncing modal: For folks using block themes, all patterns will be listed alongside template parts in the Site Editor > Patterns section, where you can enter a focused editing mode to make changes. For Classic themes, the prior reusable block management page will now house patterns in a list, similar to the Posts > All Posts view. For a complete overview of patterns on your site, all patterns provided by themes and plugins will be shown in this section but without the option to edit directly. Go further With the ability to create your own patterns baked into the creation experience, remember that you can copy the patterns available in the Pattern Directory and contribute back, an excellent way to democratize design for every WordPress user and the web. For more exciting features coming to patterns in WordPress 6.3, read on in the Advancing the Power of Patterns post. Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: Chloé Bringmann, Jonathan Pantani, Josepha, Krista Stevens, Nicholas Garofalo, Peter Rubin. View the full article

WordPress 6.3 RC2 is ready for download and testing. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, or run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC2 on a test server and site. While release candidates are considered ready for final release, additional testing and use by the community can only make it better. WordPress 6.3 is scheduled for release on August 8, 2023 – just two weeks from today. Get an overview of the 6.3 release cycle, check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts, review new features in WordPress 6.3, or watch a recorded demo. Developers and extenders should review the comprehensive WordPress 6.3 Field Guide for detailed technical notes regarding new features and improvements. RC2 Highlights Since the RC1 release on July 18, 2023, there have been approximately 15 issues resolved in Editor and Trac. Notable updates for this release include: Footnotes will be reverted or restored with post revisions (#52686). Distraction free adds a missing command in the site editor (#52868). Global styles revisions will display text if no revisions are found (#52865). The About Page has been completed (#58067). The About Page now includes a “Get Involved” section (#23348). The dark mode option has been restored in the block editor iframe for Twenty Twenty-One (#58835). Max height value was fixed in the image scaling in the Edit Media screen (#50523). Additionally, some issues regarding internationalization were addressed. Test features in WordPress 6.3 Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too. Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel in Making WordPress Slack. Vulnerability bounty doubles during the Beta/RC phases The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Get WordPress 6.3 RC2 You can test WordPress 6.3 RC2 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the RC2 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-RC2 Thanks to WordPress plugin and theme developers Do you build plugins and themes? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide. Hopefully, you have already tested your themes and plugins with WordPress 6.3 betas by now. With RC2, you will want to continue your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3. If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums. Help translate WordPress Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Português? Русский? 日本? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. This release also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.3 release cycle. Haiku for RC2 Time is nearly here WordPress shines thanks to you all Let’s get testing, dear Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @Priethor, @AudrasJb, @DavidBaumwald, @DanSoschin, @JPantani and @Meher. View the full article

WordPress 6.3 ships on August 8th! For a sneak peek of what’s to come, members of the 6.3 release squad, Anne McCarthy and Rich Tabor, held a live demo moderated by Nathan Wrigley. More than 100 attendees watched as some of the most anticipated product features were demonstrated, from the brand-new Command Palette to new design tools and more. 6.3 Live Product Demo Here are some of the key takeaways from the 6.3 live product demonstration. Command Palette’s big debut One of the most anticipated features of 6.3 is the Command Palette. It lets you quickly navigate and open different WordPress functions within the post and Site Editor. Access it using a shortcut command (Command + K or Control + K). Page creation gets easier in the Site Editor Now you can browse and edit pages within the Site Editor, providing a more cohesive WordPress experience. A new drafting flow debuts, allowing you to create and publish pages directly within the editor. Synced Patterns set to replace Reusable Blocks You can create and manage all your patterns directly in the Site Editor. Once edited, all synced patterns (previously called Reusable Blocks) will change across a site—a huge time saver when making changes. Stay on top of design changes with Style Revisions This enhancement offers a visual timeline of your site so you can see all the revisions in your site’s history and restore a previous style with just a click. New design tools and blocks Controls for specifying aspect ratios to ensure design integrity, especially when using images in Patterns debut in 6.3, along with new blocks for Footnotes and Details. Easily add footnotes to your content and have them automatically linked to the corresponding text. With the Details block, hide or display content to create spoilers or accordions. Performance WordPress is getting faster with 6.3 as content with images will see speedier load times. Both theme types (Classic and Block) will also benefit from performance improvements. The upcoming hallway hangout is an excellent opportunity to learn more about performance enhancements directly from the WordPress Performance team. More from Core Revert to previously installed versions when manual updates for themes and plugins fail. Dropping support for PHP 5. The new minimum supported version of PHP will be 7.0.0. The recommended version of PHP remains at 7.4 or greater. Accessibility updates, especially for List View and the broader Site Editor experience. Improvements to internationalization just-in-time translation loading. These new features and more await you as Phase 2 of the WordPress Roadmap comes to a close with the 6.3 release. A question and answer session followed the demo, with attendees asking plenty of great questions. The panelists shared links for additional reading regarding many new features—all conveniently added to the end of this post. A big thank you to everyone who helps make WordPress. Contributors power every WordPress release. Without the hundreds of contributors worldwide who help build WordPress, this live product demo wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you for all of your hard work. References from the Live Demo Introducing the WordPress Command Palette API Core Editor Improvement: Advancing the Power of Patterns Comparing Patterns, Template Parts, and Reusable Blocks Image performance enhancements in WordPress 6.3 The 6.3 Field Guide New in 6.3: Rollback for failed manual plugin and theme updates Dropping support for PHP 5 WordPress 6.3 Accessibility Improvements Internationalization Improvements in 6.3 #30496 Site Editor: MVP Customizer Compatibility/Integration #52128 Customization Ongoing Roadmap Building sidebars with the Site Editor New in 6.3: Rollback for failed manual plugin and theme updates Layout updates in the editor for WordPress 6.3 Props to @richtabor and @annezazu for reviewing this post and to @cbringmann, @meher, and @dansoschin for their logistics support to run the event. View the full article

WordPress 6.3 RC1 is ready for download and testing. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate RC1 on a test server and site. Reaching this part of the release cycle is a key milestone. While release candidates are considered ready for final release, additional testing and use by the community can only make it better. Get an overview of the 6.3 release cycle, check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts, and review the new features in WordPress 6.3. Save the date for a live product demo scheduled for Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 16:00 UTC (Zoom link). This live demo will be a great opportunity to join the WordPress community to celebrate the accomplishments of 6.3 and this final chapter of Phase 2. RC1 highlights Thanks to the many WordPress beta testers, this release contains 40+ (Editor) and 80+ (Trac) updates since the Beta 4 release. Keep it up WordPressers! Notable updates for this release include: WordPress database error when installing PHPUnit tests (#58673) Use _get_block_template_file function and set $area variable (#52708) Indicate when a theme supports the Site editor in the Themes REST API response (#58123) bulk_edit_posts() function needs an action hook (#28112) Allow editing existing footnote from formats toolbar (#52506) Patterns: Add client side pagination to patterns list (#52538) Trim footnote anchors from excerpts (#52518) Browse the technical details for issues addressed since Beta 4 using these queries: GitHub commits for 6.3 Closed Trac tickets since July 11 For a recap of what’s coming in 6.3, please refer to the Beta 2 post, which summarizes key features. You can also dig into technical information about various components in 6.3: Core Editor Improvement: Advancing the Power of Patterns Image performance enhancements in WordPress 6.3 Improvements to the metadata API in WordPress 6.3 Improvements to the Cache API in WordPress 6.3 New in 6.3: Rollback for failed manual plugin and theme updates Registering scripts with `async` and `defer` attributes in WordPress 6.3 I18N Improvements in 6.3 New in 6.3: Rollback for failed manual plugin and theme updates Configuring development mode in 6.3 Layout updates in the editor for WordPress 6.3 WP_Query used internally in get_pages() Improved Caching for Database Queries in WP_User_Query Social Icons block: Applied colors now dynamically update based on theme.json and Global Styles Introducing the Block Selectors API Improvements to the Cache API in WordPress 6.3 Introducing the WordPress Command Palette API Miscellaneous Editor changes in WordPress 6.3 Bundled themes dropping Internet Explorer scripts and styles Miscellaneous developer changes in WordPress 6.3 For a compilation of the dev notes above and more, read the comprehensive WordPress 6.3 Field Guide. Test the new features in WordPress 6.3 Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too. Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta/RC release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel in the Making WordPress Slack. Vulnerability bounty doubles during the Beta/RC phases The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Get WordPress 6.3 RC1 You can test WordPress 6.3 RC1 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the RC1 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-RC1 The current target for the final release is August 8, 2023, about three weeks away. Your help testing this version ensures everything in this release is the best. Thanks to WordPress plugin and theme developers Do you build plugins and themes? Your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for users of all types worldwide. Chances are, you have already been testing your latest themes and plugins with WordPress 6.3 betas. With RC1, you will want to complete your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.3. If you find compatibility problems, please post detailed information to the support forums. Help translate WordPress Do you speak a language other than English? ¿Español? Français? Português? Русский? 日本? Help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages. This release also marks the hard string freeze point of the 6.3 release cycle. Haiku for RC1 RC1 is here Hold your applause ‘til the end Download, test, repeat Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @DanSoschin, @Meher, and @JPantani. View the full article

Join WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy and Core Tech Lead Mike Schroder as they discuss their favorite new features and enhancements coming in WordPress 6.3. Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy Guests: Mike Schroder Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Nicholas Garofalo Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Show Notes WordPress 6.3 Development Cycle and Release Team New in 6.3: Rollback for failed manual plugin and theme updates Core Editor Improvement: Advancing the power of Patterns Core Editor Improvement: Smoother Site Editing Text blocks: now with footnotes The Details block is now stable Help Test WordPress 6.3 A small list of big things WCUS 2023 Contributor Day: Help Needed! – The WordCamp US Contributor Team is asking for help with their new approach to organizing this year’s Contributor Day. Watch the WCUS News page for a call for open-source-related art, poetry, and music. WordPress Releases – Find WordPress 6.3 RC1 and other releases. Celebrating the Completion of the Meetup Reactivation Project WP Diversity Workshop for WordPress event organizers – Join this 2.5-hour interactive watch party online on July 20, 2023, to learn how to create welcoming and diverse WordPress Meetups and WordCamps for your WordPress community. 6.3 Live Product Demo Transcript ( Intro music ) [00:00:00] Josepha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go. ( Intro music continues ) [00:00:39] Josepha: We have with us Mike Schroder. They are on the WordPress 6.3 release squad, and I believe, Mike, that your role there is the Core Tech Lead. Is that right? [00:00:50] Mike: Yeah, that’s correct. I’m one of the tech leads along with Andrew Ozz and David Baumwald. [00:00:56] Josepha: Thank you so much for being able to join me today. [00:00:58] Mike: Thanks for inviting me. [00:01:00] Josepha: This is our 6.3 sneak peek, and so it has a little bit of a “What do you wish people knew about the upcoming release?” aspect to it, but it also has like a “What do we find most interesting about the work that we’ve been doing in this release so far?” As the Core Tech Lead, what currently is like your favorite thing that y’all are getting into the release or the thing that’s the most interesting or happiest to finally be done with it? [00:01:27] Mike: Yeah, I think there are a couple of things. So I was playing around with the release in anticipation for this, and one of the favorite sort of user-facing features that I played with was the live preview for Block themes. And it just makes it feel so intuitive to open up a new Block theme and play around with Styles and different designs and see how it looks. I really enjoyed it, opened it up on my personal site and started messing around with different color palettes and things like that, and it was a lot of fun. [00:01:55] Josepha: Like it’s a live preview, but also with all of the content they already have on your site. [00:01:59] Mike: It does use the templates and so it, it shows some of the live content from the from the homepage, for instance, and some of those blocks, and some of the other areas are editing the templates rather than the live content. But yes, it was neat to play around with it and see my blog content in the background and yeah, some real-time design. That was really fun. [00:02:20] Josepha: And has that been a big focus of the release? Was it something that you and the other Tech Leads both for the Core side and the Editor side just had to focus a lot on in this round of the release? [00:02:33] Mike: So I was not a part of a lot of that work. So I’m not gonna take credit for it. I think that is the culmination, all of those different things together of a lot of the things that the Editor team has been working on for some time. And it was just, it was really refreshing to see it. The other feature that I had in my head, if it’s okay for me to talk about a second one, is something that has been trying to get landed in Core for quite some time, and that has to do with automatic rollbacks. If plugin updates or theme updates start to happen and then they fail in the middle of that update, then it will automatically restore the previous version of the plugin or theme. And that’s a pretty big improvement over the previous behavior, which could result not as well. [00:03:16] Josepha: Right. Where you would just have a site that was like, “Best of luck to you,” and emails that told you what kind of probably was broken. I shouldn’t be sassy about that. The WSOD protection that we put in really was a huge leap forward for the way that we handled that in the past, but this is great news. [00:03:34] Mike: Yes, I was so excited when that landed, and this is I guess the next part of that. And it’s been, yeah, it’s been in the works for a long time, through testing and there was an entire team that did a lot of work on it in a future plugin. And I’m very excited to see it land. [00:03:49] Josepha: That’s great. That’s one of those things that we hope a WordPress user never has to know exists. Like it’s always our hope that the plugins work perfectly and the themes work perfectly. And so unless something is going really wrong you won’t know that’s a feature. Surely it tells you like, “This didn’t update by the way. Go figure that out.” [00:04:08] Mike: Yeah, the whole idea of this particular feature is to make it feel more like everything is smooth and one site continues to work, and the underpinning of it has been going in for a couple of releases. The whole idea is to make the experience more smooth for users. [00:04:21] Josepha: Cool. That auto rollback actually was not on my radar as a thing to keep an eye out for in this release, so that’s really neat. One of the things that I saw as I was doing, I don’t do any complicated testing. I mostly do like testing of what users would expect with the workflow with my eyeballs and a mouse. [00:04:40] Mike: Well, that’s, that’s wonderful. [00:04:42] Josepha: I’m not doing any of the fancy testing with like code, but one of the things that I saw as I was working through my general, just regular test, my spot check click around test was that it looks like there’s some consolidation, some consolidation of the navigation in the Editor. So, it had I think maybe Pages and Templates in there before, and now there are five things in there. Do you have a bit of a concept of what went into that, what we’re hoping everybody’s gonna be able to accomplish there now? [00:05:13] Mike: So I, I was not involved as much in the later stages of this, but I was in a couple of the first couple iterations of this particular feature, and I think this is, I don’t want to guess the exact amount of times that this has been sort of reworked so the experience is good for users, there been so much effort that’s gone into helping navigation be a comfortable experience for people to work with within the site editor. And what I have heard is that everyone that’s worked on it is very excited that it’s landing and that users will be able to experience it and more easily work with navigation. [00:05:46] Josepha: Yeah, I think that navigation is one of those things, both like creating good navigation as a software designer, but then also as somebody who’s like putting together a website. Good navigation is hard to do. And it’s design where everyone’s, “Good design is invisible,” and we don’t actually mean that. We don’t mean it’s invisible. We mean it’s not intrusive, it doesn’t get in your way, it acts in the way you think it’s going to act, and it knows or has a good guess about where you’re trying to be, what you’re trying to do in that particular moment on a site. And so like the fact that we’ve had probably hundreds of people working on navigation inside the software is no surprise to me, but I bet it’s gonna be a surprise to a lot of people. They’ll be like, “It’s like folders, right?” Turns out it’s not. [00:06:33] Mike: Yes, it was, incredibly, incredibly difficult to design. I know there was, the couple instances that I was most involved with, I know there was so much discussion about how folks are used to working with navigation within WordPress and sort of what expectations are for menus and what expectations are for, you know, users both that have been using WordPress for a long time and users who, who are new to WordPress, and the Site Editor. And having all of those considerations from the various stakeholders just makes it a really difficult design problem. [00:07:03] Josepha: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, not for nothing like the WP Admin itself, that dashboard inside the WordPress software, like that’s been due for an update for quite some time. This is the same one that I think we’ve had since 2008, which was also very disruptive in its way. And so like it was a good disruption, but we really haven’t made any substantial changes to it since then. And part of it is because there are so many use cases for WordPress, and we don’t have a good concept of that because we don’t have a lot of tracking in the software. We don’t take anyone’s like data about what field they work in. We don’t do any of that. And so it’s hard for us to account for all of the use cases and get a really excellent design for a majority of the people that are gonna be using it. Because like we don’t actually build software for robots around here. Not yet. [00:07:54] Mike: ( laughs ) Yeah. [00:07:55] Josepha: No, I don’t think we’ll ever be robot-building software. [00:07:57] Mike: I doubt it, but I also don’t wanna predict the future. No, I agree. And I think that is absolutely one of the super tricky things about building WordPress. I’m really glad that WordPress doesn’t collect any of that data. And it makes it so that the sort of testing that, that you were talking about, in user studies and things like that, are incredibly helpful for figuring out what the best approaches are. [00:08:21] Josepha: Yeah, absolutely. Since we’re just in the zone of like things that Josepha likes and that she saw, I’m gonna also do this other thing. In one of the last couple of releases, the Style Book came out, which was such an exciting thing for me. It’s great to be able to see whether or not all of the style choices you’ve made in various parts of the admin or in the code, depending on how you’re doing things. It’s nice to make sure, in one big set, that like everything is coherent. Everything that you thought you changed did get changed and it looks the way that you wanted it to look in concert with everything else in there. And it looked like we now have revisions specific to styles, like styling things across the site, have revisions. Is that right? [00:09:06] Mike: That’s correct. [00:09:07] Josepha: I think that’s a super big deal because as somebody who is just, I’m filled with techno joy. I don’t always want to look at a manual. I just want to do stuff until it breaks and then hope I can fix it. The hoping you can fix it part ( laughs ) can sometimes be really nerve-wracking if what you’re doing is creating a site for a client or you are working on your first big theme and you wanna make sure that’s all together. And so style revisions to go along with some of the Editor revisions I think is a great change. [00:09:39] Mike: Same. Absolutely. This is not a feature I have, done too much particular playing with, at this point. [00:09:44] Josepha: You’re a very skilled developer. [00:09:46] Mike: I appreciate that. That’s very kind. I think that adding revisions to anything that folks regularly change in posts or pages is, really important. And making it very easy to get to both make forward changes and also to realize, “Oh, there was this other change that was, you know, there was three clicks ago that I really loved. How do I get back to that? How do I see the history?” And that’s what I love about that sort of feature. Being able to really easily see, “Okay, when did this happen? In what series? How can I jump back and get to that spot that felt right.” [00:10:19] Josepha: Yes. Anytime that we can have that kind of historical layering of things, I think is good. I went to a meetup. I like to go to meetups that are 101 content, because that’s like the folks that really need new refined processes the most. But I went to a 101 meetup a couple years back, and I remember that the presenter was saying like, take a theme that you pretty much like and make some changes until you have a theme that you love. And people kept saying like, “Yeah, but what if I break everything?” And he said in the middle of that to everyone, not knowing who I was because who cares? He was like, “Yeah, WordPress is not gonna let you do anything that will completely destroy a theme or completely destroy your site. There’s an undo button and you can just undo it. It’ll be fine.” And I was like, “Yeah, that is true now.” [00:11:15] Mike: I love that. Gosh. I mean, I remember when I was playing with my first WordPress site, and even to make really small changes with navigation or with menus, I had to go in and make changes to the PHP code, and none of that was protected. [00:11:31] Josepha: You’re like, “This is free-range me out here.” [00:11:34] Mike: I love, absolutely. I love that is just no longer the case anymore and it’s super easy to go in and play with a theme and make changes without worrying about any of that. And, I mean, I may be a developer, but that’s the way I would prefer. That’s the way I go in and edit my sites now too. If I wanna mess with a theme, go in, and it was the Customizer and now it’s the Site Editor, and it’s great. [00:11:58] Josepha: Yeah, it’s a leap forward, I think, leap forward. So another thing that I ran into, I guess it’s two things that I ran into while I was wandering around in there recently, and it’s possible that I ran into these two things because I just personally love them the most, but the Footnotes block looks like it is potentially going to land. I have been so excited about this block for no reason. I have dreams about it. I wish that were not a true statement. I did recently have a dream about it. I dreamt that it didn’t land in the release, and that I went to talk to Ella about it and she was like, “Oh, yeah, publishers have given up on footnotes and they’re just doing end notes now, and so I decided not to ship it.” Like this is a dream I had. And so I’m a little worried, but tomorrow I’m gonna be like, “Hey, Ella, friend, what’s happening?” And she’s gonna be like, “Yeah, end notes are where it’s at.” And then the other block that I’m personally very excited about is what I like to call the “Spoilers block.” I know it is not “Spoilers”, it’s the called “Details,” but anytime I’ve ever used that after like early, early times in my career, early in my career, I used to call them accordions and I don’t know why, but now I call them “Spoiler blocks.” But I know it’s actually called the “Details block,” where you can put in a piece of information at the top, essentially a title, and then expand it to get more information in there. So are both of those actually gonna land or am I gonna be heartbroken? [00:13:24] Mike: As far as I’m aware, yes. I know that I haven’t checked recently on the latter, but I was just playing with the Footnotes block, and it’s really cool. I really like the interface. I think that it makes it really simple to add quick footnotes to, anywhere in the site, and everything feels very automated and simple. [00:13:46] Josepha: As someone who every, almost everything that I’ve ever written, I want to have an aside in it, which essentially just becomes a footnote. One of the weirdest parts about Gutenberg at first is that like, the asterisk way of doing it, where you just put one after the word and then put one at the start. The asterisk makes it into a list block, and for a long time you also couldn’t escape it, and so I had to do a lot of fancy footwork to get my footnotes to work for a while, and so I’m excited for that. [00:14:15] Mike: I think I had similar discouraging moments with lists and I was really encouraged by the way the footnotes select, and I’m sure there are other ways to do it too, but select, right-click, footnote, and they all automatically go to the bottom order, all of it. It’s a really smooth process. [00:14:31] Josepha: Yeah. I’m really excited about it. I know that like for the last two or three major releases, a bulk of what we’ve been offering to folks is like, design stuff, and we’re just like, “It’s a bunch of design things,” but this release actually has over 500 different tickets that were marked as features or enhancements that are going into it. And so, you and I have talked about seven things so far, but I also understand that there are literally 500 tickets or so that were marked as “feature” or “enhancement.” And so we are definitely not gonna catch everything that goes in there, but there is kind of a group of another group of enhancements to the design tools because of course this wraps up the bulk of phase two so that we can all move into the collaborative editing phase. And so like, do you have a sense for, like is this just mostly polish for those design and like image media management kinds of things? Or are there big features that are coming in those also? [00:15:29] Mike: My understanding is that it’s all of the above. I think that there are a lot of new features being added along with polish to those features. And I think the neatest thing is that there are also a lot of enhancements that are focused on bringing all of those things together and making it feel like more of a connected experience. And so I think that’s my favorite part so far in testing that I’ve been doing of, the many, as you mentioned, so many additional new features that, that we’re added this time. And, I have a huge amount of respect for, you know, everyone that works, for the huge amount of folks that work on it across the project. [00:16:07] Josepha: Yeah. Yeah, you’ve given a couple of answers where you were like, “I wasn’t personally involved in that,” but on the one hand, I was like, “Everyone knows that we’re not all personally involved in it,” but on the other hand, not everybody knows how many people touch all of these tickets and features and bugs and tests as we get them ready to be put into the release. Last year, I was super worried that like, post active fear of Covid, and now everyone just like deciding that they’ve done their best and they’re going back out there. Like I was really worried that everyone was gonna be having so much fun out of the house, that they would stop contributing. [00:16:43] Mike: ( laughs ) [00:16:44] Josepha: I know, but we actually had one of our most active years for contributors last year, which means that especially for the releases that are coming this year, the people who worked all the way through last year, like almost 2000, I think, contributors, just to code, that’s not even like the contributors who worked on reigniting the community and putting together events, all of those things like all of the other things that we do. It’s, it is remarkable to me that when we look at any feature it is definitely been looked at or worked on, or at least passed through desks of easily a hundred people, even for small little things. And I just love that, the depth of the work we do. [00:17:29] Mike: Absolutely. Same. I remember wondering about that too, about your same sort of concerns. And it’s been really great to be a part of the community as it’s essentially, as it’s grown together again, I think is maybe the best way I can think of to say it. That’s been quite wonderful. [00:17:46] Josepha: Yeah, absolutely. Mike, this has been an absolutely delightful conversation. Is there anything you would like to leave us with before we move on to our small list of big things today? [00:17:58] Mike: The release candidate for 6.3 comes out tomorrow, and what I would love the most is if anyone in interested in testing, anyone, whether it’s testing exactly like this sort of testing that you were just talking about, with loading the RC and clicking around and seeing what works the best and what doesn’t work and what feels good and what doesn’t, or if it’s testing, if you’re like a plugin or a theme developer, testing with those things to see how things work and looking for backwards compatibility breaks that are unexpected so we can fix them before release. If you work at a hosting company or you make sites for folks, helping test that to see that it works really well on your platforms for folks that you work with. I think all of those would be super helpful, and there are testing instructions that can be found on the release candidate announcement page. [00:18:43] Josepha: Perfect. Wonderful. Mike, thank you so much for joining me today. [00:18:47] Mike: Thank you so much. I’ve really appreciated the time. ( Musical interlude ) [00:18:49] Josepha: That brings us now to our small list of big things. It’s actually kind of a big list of big things today. So first on the list is that WordCamp US has a Contributor Day and we need your help. So the WordCamp US Contributor Team has contacted all of the team reps asking for help with a new approach to organizing this year’s Contributor Day. The hope is to make the initial steps to contribution easier. And so they’re asking teams who will be present to help participate with that process. I will have a link in the show notes to the post that has more information. Also second thing related also to WordCamp US is that I would like to put out a call for art and music, especially that is related to open source and the freedoms that it brings. So one of the things that makes WordPress so fantastic in the world is not only that like we’re creating opportunities for folks, we’re offering economic, and I don’t know, philosophical freedoms to people, but we frequently do think about that in the vein of, you know, commerce and work and the economy, and we rarely think about it in the obviously related subset of arts and music. And so I also would like to put out a call for any open source related arts or poetry or music that you all have created. I would love to be able to display some of that at WordCamp US this year. I don’t think I have a link quite yet for a call for that, but as soon as I do, I’ll send it out on social media and other places. The third thing on our small list of big things is that, as Mike mentioned, tomorrow is the RC1 release date for WordPress 6. 3, and you can help us to test that. It’s always good for us to test any release as it’s working its way through the process, but certainly by the time it gets to RC, that’s when we are pretty sure it’s going to be as stable as possible. We’ve done some soft string freezes and feature freezes-ish. And so that’s about as stable as it’s going to get. And so I encourage everyone to get out and test that as much as possible. And in all the ways that Mike shared. Item number four, we are also reaching a milestone. So, a couple weeks ago, we reached the one year milestone for the start of the Meetup Reactivation Project. We have about 50% of our Meetup groups reactivated. If you are listening to this and you are a Meetup organizer and you haven’t heard from anyone from WordCamp Central or the community team, I’m going to put a link to the notes, or rather, a link to the post in the notes so that you can also learn more about that. You don’t have to hear from us in order to get your meetup group going again. But, if you are interested to know what has gone into that process, or always just want to know what’s going on in the community side of things, that’s a good place to start. So there will be a link to that in the show notes as well. Number five, WordPress event organizers in general, but also anyone. So there are two different events coming up on Thursday, on July 20th. First, there is the WP Diversity Workshop. This is added workshop for us to help promote the ideas of building diverse and inclusive WordPress events. And so, this is not necessarily one of those events for people who want to increase their skills in speaking so that they are able to, to speak confidently at a WordPress event. These are for people who are organizing WordPress events and want to make them more inclusive and more diverse from the start. I encourage any organizer to go to it, regardless of whether you’re doing WordPress events or not, but certainly for WordPress events that is something that we care about and want to have included in our entire event series. The other thing that’s happening on Thursday, because like I said, two things happening on Thursday, is that we have a WordPress 6. 3 live product demo. We’ve been doing these for the last few releases, and you get a couple of people from either the release squad, or like folks who do that kind of developer relations work in WordPress, who sit down and just do a general click-through, a general run through, a public demo of what we expect to land in the release. And so that also is on Thursday. I will also have a link for you in the show notes. If you are listening to this not on WordPress.org and you don’t know where the show notes are, don’t worry. The show notes are on WordPress.org. You go to WordPress.org/news/podcast and in the transcript there are show notes that have links to all of these things. And that, my friends, is your big, small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. Thank you again for my guest, Mike’s, time. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. ( Outtro music ) View the full article

The Gutenberg project has aimed to revolutionize how we manage web content as much as Johannes Gutenberg did the printed word. The project’s roadmap is comprised of four unique phases: Easier Editing — Already available in WordPress, with ongoing improvements Customization — Full site editing, block patterns, block directory, block themes Collaboration — A more intuitive way to co-author content Multilingual — Core implementation for Multilingual sites With the upcoming release of WordPress 6.3, Phase 2 of the Gutenberg project is coming to a close; a journey worth celebrating. This video is an ode to Gutenberg’s editing and customization phases, celebrating the new design tools and the possibilities they create. The piece encapsulates the exciting steps made in the past that propel the vibrant future of WordPress. Everything showcased in the video is built entirely with the WordPress Editor, using currently available blocks, patterns, and themes. This new era has opened the ability for the design community to contribute to the project directly without depending on developers to translate their ideas into designs. Consider this an invitation for designers to join a new generation that embraces the diverse and expressive capabilities of WordPress. The work that goes into Gutenberg is a powerful testament to the collaboration of coders, developers, and designers in our community. United, we strive to build WordPress into a realm of significance and lasting impact. Video credits Video credits: Tino Barreiro, Beatriz Fialho, Takashi Irie, Henrique Lamarino, Rich Tabor, Pablo Honey, Matías Ventura, and Holographik. Thank you to the post authors Tino Barreiro, Nicholas Garofalo, Dan Soschin, Rich Tabor, and Chloé Bringmann. View the full article

WordPress 6.3 Beta 4 is ready for download and testing. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, you should evaluate Beta 4 on a test server and site. Get an overview of the 6.3 release cycle, check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts, and review the new features in WordPress 6.3. Also, save the date for a live product demo scheduled for Thursday, July 20, 2023, at 16:00 UTC (Zoom link). This will be a great opportunity to join the WordPress community to celebrate the accomplishments of 6.3 and this final chapter of Phase 2. Beta 4 highlights Thanks to the many WordPress beta testers, this release contains 40+ (Editor) and 60+ (Trac) updates since the Beta 3 release. Excellent work, team! Notable updates for this beta release include: Discontinuing support for PHP 5. 4 tickets closed regarding fetchpriority and lazy-loading features related to performance (58680, 58635, 58704, 58681.) Browse the technical details for issues addressed since Beta 3 using these queries: GitHub commits for 6.3 Closed Trac tickets since July 3 Test the new features in WordPress 6.3 Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too. Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on the Making WordPress Slack. Vulnerability bounty doubles during the Beta/RC phases The monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC). Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Get WordPress 6.3 Beta 4 You can test WordPress 6.3 Beta 4 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the Beta 4 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-beta4 The current target for the final release is August 8, 2023, about four weeks away. Your help testing this version ensures everything in this release is the best. A Beta 4 Haiku Beta ships, once more Up next week, an RC1 6, 3, out the door Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @DanSoschin, @Meher, @eidolonnight, and @JPantani. View the full article

Want to learn more about WordPress 6.3, planned for release on August 8, 2023? Join the WordPress community for a first look at 6.3 in action during a live product demonstration. 6.3 release squad members, Anne McCarthy and Rich Tabor, will team up with moderator, Nathan Wrigley, to guide attendees through the anticipated highlights of the upcoming release. This event will follow a similar format to the live demo for 6.2. Attendees will see recent improvements to the Site Editor, Patterns, Command Palette, and more. Following the demo, there will be a Q&A session, and you may submit questions in advance via Slack. Date, Time, and Location Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 16:00 UTC Zoom Link | Save this link and use it on July 20 to join the event. The event will be recorded, archived for on-demand viewing on WordPress.tv, and shared in a recap post shortly afterward. About WordPress 6.3 To learn more about WordPress 6.3, please visit the following resources: WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 Announcement Overview of the 6.3 release cycle A detailed guide for testing 6.3 Props to our panelists and moderator, and to @jpantani, @meher, @eidolonnight, and @dansoschin for helping prepare this announcement and supporting event logistics. View the full article

WordPress 6.3 Beta 3 is ready for download and testing! This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it is recommended you evaluate Beta 3 on a test server and site. Get an overview of the 6.3 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts in the coming weeks for further details. Also, save the date for a live product demo tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 16:00 UTC (link TBD). This will be a great opportunity to join the WordPress community to celebrate the accomplishments of 6.3 and this final chapter of Phase 2. Beta 3 highlights Thanks to the many WordPress beta testers, this release contains approximately 34 (Site Editor) and 40+ (Trac) updates since the Beta 2 release. Nice work, team! Testers should note that the “Patterns Library” is now simply called Patterns in the UI. Additionally, pattern details now include a sync status and a lock icon is added for theme patterns. Browse the technical details for issues addressed since Beta 2 using these queries: GitHub commits for 6.3 Closed Trac tickets since June 28 Test the new features in WordPress 6.3 Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is too. Review the many new features in WordPress 6.3 and focus your testing efforts on those areas in particular. Encountered an issue? Please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on the Making WordPress Slack. Vulnerability bounty doubles during the Beta/RC phases Between the Beta 1 release and the final release candidate (RC), the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is double. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Get WordPress 6.3 Beta 3 You can test WordPress 6.3 Beta 3 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the Beta 3 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-beta3 The current target for the final release is August 8, 2023, which is about five weeks away. Your help testing this version ensures everything in this release is the best. A Beta 3 Haiku for You Beta three, a peek Summer here and winter there A fourth in one week Thank you to the contributors who collaborated on this post: @DanSoschin, @Meher, @JPantani, @eidolonnight, @davidbaumwald, @priethor, and @DanSoschin for the Haiku. View the full article

Join WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy in the 59th episode of the WordPress Briefing. Today she invites guest speaker Alex Kirk to discuss Polyglots’ work to continue to help bring translation to WordPress. Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy Guests: Alex Kirk Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Brett McSherry and Nicholas Garofalo Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Show Notes Polyglots team Gutenberg Project roadmap GlotPress plugin Translating WordPress – Contribute to WordPress core, themes, and plugins by translating them into your language. WordPress Playground – WordPress that runs entirely in your browser. Translate Live: Updates to the Translation Playground Polyglots Roles and Capabilities – Including the GTE and PTE roles. WPCampus 2023 – A hybrid event, July 12th through the 14th, at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Topics focus on the growth of higher education, accessibility, WordPress, and anyone who works in higher education. Launch your WordPress Contributor Journey through the Mentorship Program Pilot – A cohort-based onboarding experience with guided courses and live workshops for those interested in contributing to the project but unsure where to begin. Make Team Dashboards Transcript ( Intro music ) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:10] Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go. ( Intro music ) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:39] I have with me Alex Kirk, who is a longtime WordPress contributor and who has been instrumental in recent innovations in the Polyglots’ work. Phase four of the Gutenberg project is native multilingual support, and so I see this work that is being done as instrumental, not only for our global community but in support of what’s to come in that specific roadmap. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:59] So without further ado, Alex Kirk, welcome to the WordPress Briefing. [Alex Kirk 00:01:03] Hello, how are you doing? [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:01:05] I’m good. I’m good. Can you, let’s, because I bet that not a lot of people know who you are, can you first start by just telling me a bit about your work with WordPress, and then let us know what GlotPress is, for those of us who don’t know yet? [Alex Kirk 00:01:19] All right. So, Automattic sponsors me to work in the WordPress project on the Meta team and on the Polyglots team. So I spent time on improving or helping improve the software that powers the translation on WordPress.org. But I also work on the meta team on things like Matrix and evaluating if it would be a good fit for WordPress to switch to Matrix for their chat system. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:01:46] So a lot of really big projects that you work on, all of that kind of stuff that has no easy solutions anymore, is where you are right now. Huh? [Alex Kirk 00:01:56] Yeah, there’s no clear path, but it’s our mission to find it. So that’s part of what makes things interesting. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:02:05] Cool. So for folks who don’t know too much about the Polyglots team or generally translating WordPress, the software, can you let us know a bit about what GlotPress is? [Alex Kirk 00:02:16] Right. So the translation system that powers WordPress.org is called GlotPress. It used to be a standalone software that was developed a couple of years ago, and it was transformed into a WordPress plugin at some point, and now powers the translation that happens on WordPress.org. So we translate WordPress core there from English to other languages, plugins, themes, block patterns, and it all happens through this software called GlotPress. There are a couple GlotPress installations around the world, but I think the WordPress.org one is one of the bigger ones. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:02:55] Probably, WordPress.org is pretty, pretty massive. Also, I think it’s great that you said that GlotPress was created a couple of years ago, like that, that indicates to me that you’re working on a really different timescale than a lot of folks are in WordPress. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:03:10] So Alex, tell me a little bit about what it takes to ship translated WordPress software. So, I mean, for people who don’t need translated WordPress, like obviously we don’t have a good idea of what it takes to make sure that WordPress is available in so many languages. So what goes into the work of making sure that that happens? [Alex Kirk 00:03:32] All right, so typically the WordPress software and plugins and themes are primarily created in English. And for it to be available in other languages, it needs to be translated. And for that to be able to happen, the programmers need to make the software translatable. Basically, they’re providing each English string for the translation software to be available to be transformed, so to speak, into another language and to what it’s being transformed to. This is what the translators do. So they go into the GlotPress software and see the list of texts that need to be translated and translate it to their language that they speak. Typically there is a process around this. [Alex Kirk 00:03:32] So, we’ve got people who have lots of experience in translation. And specifically in translating WordPress or WordPress plugins. And they’re kind of the, the people who help ensure good quality of translation. So anybody who’s working the WordPress project, so basically who has a WordPress.org account, can come in and address the translation. And that translation enters the system, so to speak, in a waiting state. And then somebody who we promoted to be a Translation Editor will come along and take a look at your translation and will approve it or will give you suggestions how to do the translation in a better way, or come up with maybe even a better translation. [Alex Kirk 00:05:03] You know, when you have like a small thing that’s just not right, like a missing full stop or something like that. They might just add it for you. And well, as soon as the plugin or software is translated to a certain level of translations those translations will be shipped out to the WordPress installs. [Alex Kirk 00:05:20] So, for example, for a plugin, you would reach 90% of translated strings. Those translations will then be basically packed up into zip file, a language pack and delivered to each WordPress so that you can have the translations available there. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:05:35] And is 90% the threshold for plugins only, or is that also the threshold for like themes and the CMS itself? [Alex Kirk 00:05:34] Well. We strive for 100%, I would say. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:05:47] Good. ( laughs ) [Alex Kirk 00:05:48] And, 90% more of a motivational point. To be actually honest, I’m not sure if the threshold is 90% for every project or even if it’s actually 90%. It’s different between different GlotPress installations and it’s basically something that is made as a setting that can be changed. There’s, it’s an arbitrary number. Typically you’d actually want to make sure that the most important strings are translated first. So the ones like, if you look at the whole picture, software usually consists of many parts, many of whom are not encountered by people on a regular basis. For example, error messages that could be like obscure error messages, and you could argue that those might be not as important. Or even sometimes you could even say like, do they need to be translated? Because if you encounter an error message and you search the internet, wouldn’t you probably want everybody to search for the English one to find the solution? But that set-aside, it’s important to have like the headline of the plugin or like the most important strings translated, and typically translating those most important strings will take you to a pretty high percentage so that we can then say it’s good enough to be shipped. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:07:02] Gotcha. I see, I see. Okay. Well, we talked a bit earlier about GlotPress’s timeline. It has been around for a bit, I know. But with that kind of in mind, have there been any notable changes to GlotPress recently? [Alex Kirk 00:07:19] Yeah, so I think for GlotPress there’s been a bit of an up and down over time in terms of engagement and progress on the software. But in, in the recent year, I think we’ve added a couple of things that have been very helpful for translators. So one of them was adding the commenting functionality, so yeah. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:07:35] Super helpful. Shocked it wasn’t there before. Sorry, translators. Sorry, all of our polyglots. [Alex Kirk 00:07:40] Well, it can be like there was when GlotPress was created there, there is like the, a big part of GlotPress are these states, like the waiting state when you enter translation, and then there’s approved state, which basically a translation we say it’s set to current, and there’s all sorts of process around it. So if the software is updated or translation might get fuzzy. But also like, if somebody submits a translation that doesn’t fully conform to what’s the translation editors, or like what the standards of the translation community have been set to, then you would have to need to reject it. [Alex Kirk 00:08:16] And that has been something that we felt wasn’t a very good and enticing way of telling people like, we appreciate your work. It wasn’t just quite right, but it’s more of a rejection. So this is how we came up with this like, let’s give people the option to say what was wrong and give them a chance to try again without making them feel rejected. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:08:38] Yeah. Sort of a “No, but…” as opposed to a, just refusal to receive it. [Alex Kirk 00:08:45] And other things that we’ve worked on is, like, with the recent search of AI, like getting help from AI on translation and also on reviews. So, there’s some interesting things that you can do with AI in that regard; that one important aspect of translations, it’s also that we’ve got glossaries for each language where people, basically the translation community, identifies certain words they want to translate them the same way every time. And with the AI, you can basically add to the prompt, like, please translate those words to those translations when you give me a translation for that. And as it can change over time, you can always adapt this to the prompt, and that has been proven quite helpful. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:09:25] That is great. That’s one of those things I know that AI has been like a really popular thing to talk about. And AI, specifically for translations, I think has caused some concern that maybe we’ll just like translate it all and hope that computers get it right when we know pretty certainly that computers don’t always get the translations right. But that’s not what you’re talking about, right? What you’re suggesting is that AI would suggest what could be translated and what it could be translated to, and then human beings have to confirm that that’s correct, right? [Alex Kirk 00:09:59] That’s exactly it. So basically, we give suggestions to the translators, and then they can modify a translation before they press save. It’s more of a, like supporting them in getting the translations, like looking up words more quickly and all of that. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:10:16] That’s wonderful. So is that the major sort of next step that is coming for GlotPress, or are there other things that we should keep an eye out for in that software? [Alex Kirk 00:10:27] So one direction that we’ve been taking GlotPress is basically making use of the fact that GlotPress is WordPress plugin now. And you know, typically, you would just use a GlotPress install. So on WordPress.Org, there’s like GlotPress installed, there’s translation projects created, something that we call “translation sets”. So for languages, you want to translate it to, it’s all pre-configured, and if you would install GlotPress to plugin on your own WordPress, it would be empty and not very useful. So what we’ve added is a way for you to basically be able to translate the plugins and themes that you’ve got installed in your WordPress into the language that you’re interested in. [Alex Kirk 00:11:07] So you might have a non-English website that you want to use certain plugins with, and they might not be fully translated at this point, so obviously, you could go to WordPress.org and help translate them, and that’s the way to, that’s preferred. But you could also now go install GlotPress on your own website and translate there. And then you have the translations there right when you enter them. And you can then contribute those translations back to WordPress.org. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:11:35] So that’s with local GlotPress? [Alex Kirk 00:11:37] That’s something that we call local GlotPress. And you know, since we then have all these translations in the local database, it means we can do even more with those translations. So typically, language packs would be delivered to WordPress, but with local GlotPress, you’ve got like all the GlotPress software there. [Alex Kirk 00:11:56] So we can do things like inline translation. So, on your own WordPress and wp-admin, for example, we can highlight all the strings that can be translated, and those strings just have to right-click them and enter your translation, and that way, you can basically go about and translate the whole ui, seeing your progress, as you’re making, basically turning the screen from red to green. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:12:20] Yeah. Yeah. So that’s something now that you can do in your local WordPress installation. [Alex Kirk 00:12:26] Basically, it’s completely independent of WordPress.org. We would ask you to contribute the translations back when you have them, but being independent also allows you to translate like premium plugins, which could not be hosted on WordPress.org or doing something like that we call like hyper-local translation. So, for example, I speak Austrian German natively, but even inside Austria, we’ve got different dialects or like special words that we use. And if I wanted to create a website that’s targeted at the Viennese market, for example, I might want to use those specific terms. And this is something I would have to argue for those translations to be accepted on WordPress.org because it’s a, it’s like a very targeted market. But if I have a local GlotPress, I can do those translations there. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:13:11] That seems awfully beneficial, especially as dialects. I’ve been having these conversations. I have, in my extended family, many children, and they are all learning languages and one of them has been having kind of thoughts about, like, dialects and how dialects are almost another language. And if so, like how do you know what everybody’s saying when you’re speaking all the same thing, but it’s kind of a little bit it sounds a little bit different. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:13:37] That’s certainly a thing in the US, the distinct dialects across our country. And so I imagine that that’s gonna be a really beneficial sort of implementation for countries that have a lot of different regional variations and certainly smaller countries that have technically the same language as somebody else, but a lot of regional differences, regional specific things. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:14:01] Is that the same or different as the live translations, Translate Live, that we talked about at the WordCamp Europe a couple weeks back? [Alex Kirk 00:14:12] Right. So, Translate Live is kind of the next step after local GlotPress. It’s like this happy marriage between the WordPress Playground and local GlotPress. So the WordPress Playground is also something that has come up a lot. It’s basically a way for you to run WordPress inside a browser window, so in JavaScript. And at first, it seems like mildly interesting, I would say. But when you combine it with other things like local GlotPress, it can lead to really interesting opportunities. So with inline translation, for example, on WordPress.org, you would typically find for every plugin, the UI would look the same. You would have a table of strings, and all that makes you realize you’re translating this certain plugin is that in the header of the page, it says this name of the plugin, but other than that, it can look really all the same. [Alex Kirk 00:15:07] And now, with WordPress Playground, you can put up a WordPress and run this plugin inside that Playground. And now, if you add local GlotPress to the picture, you can also do the inline translation of that plugin inside the WordPress Playground. So you’ve got inline translation. We add the glossary so they do make sure that you translate things the same way that they’re expected, and you don’t have to install the plugin. [Alex Kirk 00:15:33] And still, you can see what the translations will look like. You can see the strings next to each other, and what I think is most important, you will start with the strings that you see first, which are the most important ones. When you’re in the table view, those strings might be somewhere buried in the middle, and yeah, it’s really hard to see progress if you start with kind of obscure error messages, for example, versus just starting with the things that you see first. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:16:02] Yeah. So, moving translations away from table-based translations where you kind of have to know what you’re looking for. So the Translate Live, along with local GlotPress, along with WP Playground, is going to make it so that it’s easier to see visually what needs to be translated, where, what’s most valuable to translate for your mid users and your end users, basically. Yeah? [Alex Kirk 00:16:30] That, and also like for plug-in authors, it can be really good to see, you know, you can switch the languages in the Playground to another language, and you can quickly see like what’s the state of the translation in this language or in that language. And even things like, you know, Arabic as an RTL language rights to left language. The sidebar will change to the right, and you can also just switch language and see like, what’s my plugin like in this environment. I mean, this is not technically something that’s related to local GlotPress, but in this translation live ui, it’s very easy to change languages and see your plugin in another language. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:17:06] I mean, it’s not specifically related to, to Translations Live, but also, I think that if we’re saying that WordPress not necessarily is going to lead the way with translations and native multilingual support in our CMS because, of course, it’s still a little bit far out on our roadmap. We certainly have an opportunity to have the best implementation of that. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:17:27] And even if like that specific use case that you’re talking about isn’t related directly to what it is that you are working on for Polyglots and inside GlotPress and all of that, I do see that having more streamlined, more easy to see and access opportunities to like test the way that our software looks across varying environments, especially those that change it substantially from what we typically work in day-to-day for any individual developer or any individual WordPress site implementer. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:18:00] Like, I think that that is a big step forward for all of us and certainly for anyone who is having to use WordPress as not a native English speaker. And so you say it’s not related, but it still is a big, a big benefit for WordPress overall, I think, to have this kind of work happening so that we can have those benefits to the folks who are using our software. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:18:22] So there were a couple of different things that you mentioned over the course of our conversation. We’re gonna put some links to the show notes for all of those. But one thing that you mentioned that just kind of went by, and we never really had an opportunity to talk about it. You talked about the, I think it was GTEs, Global Translation Editors, the folks that are like approved as final approvers of translations. If there is someone who’s listening to this podcast who wants to become a GTE someday, where would they go to do that? [Alex Kirk 00:18:54] So the path to GTE is a PTE. ( laughs ) [Alex Kirk 00:18:59] So, we’ve got different levels of translation editors. Basically, you start, you could say you start off as a translator, and this is how you can kind of show that you can do good translations or that you’re very firm in your language. And this might make you be noticed in the community. [Alex Kirk 00:19:16] So we’re always looking for people who like to help with translations. And you might be then promoted to be a Project Translation Editor. Basically, it means that for a single language in a project, you’ll be able to approve translations. So, you’ll be the one who says, like, this translation is a good one and this conforms to the to the rules that we have stated as a translation community. [Alex Kirk 00:19:42] And further down the path then is the GTE, where you basically are allowed to approve translations across any project on translate.WordPress.org in your language. And that’s, usually you’ll be in, in that position with other GTEs. [Alex Kirk 00:20:04] So there is, like, in each community, there is like, we’re people based. We talk about what might be a good translation. We talk to each other, try to find rules that maybe prevent common mistranslations, or set the standards for how we want the software to be translated. And this is something where you get a voice as a translator, but as a GTE, you get into a position where you can actually make the changes or find consensus on how the software should be translated in your language. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:20:35] And if folks are not familiar where the Polyglots team works and meets, where would they find you all? [Alex Kirk 00:20:41] At make.WordPress.org/polyglots. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:20:45] Perfect. Alex, this has been such a fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for joining me today. [Alex Kirk 00:20:50] Thank you very much. ( Intermission music ) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:20:59] So that brings us now to our small list of big things. First, WP Campus 2023 is taking place July 12th through the 14th. That’s a nonprofit three-day conference with topics that focus on the growth of higher education, accessibility, WordPress, and anyone who works in higher education. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:21:17] It’s a hybrid event. There is an in-person component on the beautiful campus of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. I’ll add information about that in our show notes for anyone who would like to join in person or online. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:21:32] The second thing is that the mentorship program pilot that I have been talking about a little bit over the last few months has been formally launched. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:21:39] If you are interested in contributing more to the project but not sure where to begin, take a look at this comprehensive onboarding experience. It’s cohort-based. It has some personalized one-to-one mentorship. There are guided courses, live workshops, all of that. So read more about it in our show notes and sign up for one-on-one team mentorship. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:21:59] And then, finally, Matt mentioned at WordCamp Europe an idea that he had been thinking of for some time a Make team dashboard that would sort of help define team metrics and help identify for individual contributors what should indicate team health and where they can find the most impactful projects to work on. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:22:20] A post has since been published on make.WordPress.org/meta calling for additional feedback on that idea, so that we have an understanding of what this could be, how the dashboard can kind of come to be. And so stop by and add your thoughts there in the comments. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:22:38] And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:22:42] Thanks for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. ( Outro music ) View the full article

A way to escape chronic pain and give a sense of independence, is what using WordPress means for Italian-American Allison Dye. Now as a project manager and social media content manager living in North Carolina, USA, she uses the software in her work and in disability-advocacy. The People of WordPress series shares inspiring stories of how people’s lives can change for the better through WordPress and its global community of contributors. Allison was first introduced to WordPress when she was 13 years old. Her parents gave her own WordPress website to use, play, test, and try whatever she wanted with it. Her health issues had started when she was eight years old, and being able to express who she was and learn new skills provided an escape she needed. My first encounter with WordPress Allison said: “While the technical aspects of my new WordPress website intrigued me, I was more interested in the space it made for me to write. All throughout my childhood I had struggled with chronic pain, fatigue, and other unexplained symptoms. Having a private world I could call my own, I was able to write my story.” “There is something truly amazing about having a place to tell your story.” Allison Dye Her family faced many doctors, nurse, specialists and hospital visits, but could not get an answer to the difficulties faced by Allison. She said: “I felt like my life and world were out of control. But logging onto my little website and typing away on the computer keys gave me a sense of control. I couldn’t always do things that other kids had the energy to do. But I could get lost in writing for hours. I couldn’t control my life story, but I could write about it.” She felt it was like writing letters to her future self and would act as a reminder of how strong she had become. Even now when Allison writes on her website, she feels it is writing letters to her past self, expressing reassurance and pride. The practice of writing online continues to help her reflect on how she coped and made it through the difficulties. WordPress in the real world Allison hoped her early experiences with hospitals and being unwell was just part of being a child, and that in adulthood she would be healthy. She longed for this time. Growing up did not bring her this dream of a healthier life and an end to chronic pain. In fact, her condition worsened as she went through her teens and at 18 she finally received a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Allison enjoying time with nature and trees This changed what had been conventional job choices, as she was not able to handle a 9 to 5 work schedule. She could not drive herself to work on some days and relied on her mother to help with transport. She knew that she would have to find another way to work and she was determined to find it. She began writing music and book reviews online, and then moved onto writing blog posts. As they were published she started to receive payment and a sense of power over her life. She said: “WordPress felt familiar, typing on the computer keys felt comfortable, and sharing my words with the world felt surreal.” Allison’s sense of ownership of the software became part of her strength. “I think I believed WordPress was mine somehow. I was learning that WordPress is something that belongs to everyone in some way. And I loved it.” Finding work with WordPress The confidence using the platform gave Allison led her to find more about what it could do and meet other people who used it. She said: “The thing I love about WordPress is that it’s not just for developers or bloggers or SEO experts. I began to meet more people in the community and was delighted to find people like me, who didn’t know the technical stuff, but were a part of WordPress.” This global community orbiting around the software gave her an opportunity to meet social media managers, designers, and people from many different areas. She found that ‘there was a place for everyone’. The guiding strength and fascination Allison found and still finds today is in that community. Allison said: “The community felt as important as the rest of everything that makes WordPress what it is. It felt like it was about people and relationships as well as codes and databases.” In 2020, she was hired by a WordPress company. She said: “I like being a part of a WordPress company, and I love that I contribute to a team that helps people with their websites. I understand the importance of having a space that’s yours. Whether it’s a business or personal site, having a website gives you the power of telling your own story.” WordPress gave Allison a freedom and an independence. She did not have to work a 9 to 5 job, rely on others to drive her on bad days with her MS, nor worry about days when she wanted to stay in her sweatshirts rather than go into an office to work. She said: “I have a 100% remote job which I can do despite the plot twists in my story, thanks to WordPress and the people in it.” WordPress took Allison into the world of project management for a small agency, and this experience was to help guide her path, skills and confidence into the future. She went on to work in content management in WordPress, building pages for awareness campaigns for non profit organizations and small businesses as a contractor. She helps people update their websites, add and edit content, perform basic updates and help them to learn how to use their sites. “I tell all my clients to use WordPress because there is really no other solution that can scale as easily for growing organizations and small businesses. I love how WordPress allows them to tell their stories, share their passion, and have a place to call their own on the internet.” Allison Dye As a fluent English and Italian speaker, Allison is able to support clients in different countries from where she lives. “I love that with WordPress I’m able to support clients remotely. This is thanks to all of the many WordPress contributors, developers, project managers, content writers, and many, many volunteers that work tirelessly to enable people around the world to use WordPress.” Allison also became a certified as an English As A Second Language (ESL) teacher. “My affinity for words and languages allows me to teach passionately and creatively. I’m Italian-American and am fluent in English and Italian. Teaching English allows me to share my passion for communication with others.” Welcomed into the WordPress community Allie interviewed for a podcast on her use of WordPress Allison attributes mentors and supporters in the WordPress community for helping her appreciate she really is part of it. Allison recalled: “It felt unreal. I wasn’t a dev, I don’t know how to code, and yet I got to be a part of it all? I felt like I was a fake. But Kimberly continues to remind me that I’m real, I get to be here, I get to stay, I have a place.” She was later encouraged to contribute by a WordPress community member to the Big Orange Heart, which aims to support and promote positive well-being and mental health within remote working communities. She said she felt ‘honored typing my words, pieces of my story, and sharing them with a community of people’. She also joined the WordCamp US 2021 online organizing team. Allison enjoys the fact that in the WordPress community, ‘everyone here is constantly working to be better and do better’. Facing the future with strength from her friends and colleagues in WordPress Allison was later diagnosed with two additional neurological conditions: Functional Neurological Disorder and Migraine. She said: “If it were not for WordPress I would really be unable to work. But WordPress and its community continue to be a part of my life and I am grateful to everyone who’s helped me along my way. I don’t know where I would even be without it.” She strives to raise awareness of dynamic disabilities and invisible illnesses like her own through podcasts and social media. She feels that her WordPress friends have helped her both in her professional life and in her wish to be an advocate for others with disabilities too. Allison hopes reading of her experience will help others who are worried about not progressing in a WordPress career due to health concerns. “I hope that it will remind anyone reading this that WordPress is a space for everyone. Healthy or not, developer or not, blogger or not — WordPress belongs to you too.” Allison Dye Share the stories Help share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the People of WordPress series. Contributors Thanks to Allie Dye (@allisondye) for sharing about her adventures in WordPress. Props to Abha Thakor (@webcommsat) and the late Surendra Thakor (@sthakor) for interviews and writing the feature, Meher Bala (@meher) for work on images, and to Meher, Maja Loncan (@mloncar) and Chloe Bringmann (@cbringmann) for reviews. The People of WordPress series thanks Josepha Haden (@chanthaboune) and Topher DeRosia (@topher1kenobe) for their support. This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. #HeroPress View the full article

WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 is ready for download and testing. This is the first release of the 6.3 cycle, as there was no Beta 1 due to technical issues with packaging the release. Rather than further delaying a beta release, the release squad has decided to package and ship Beta 2. This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, the release squad recommends you evaluate Beta 2 on a test server and site. WordPress 6.3 demonstrates incredible progress toward achieving the goals outlined in the WordPress roadmap and is the final major release of Phase 2. Phase 2 has focused mainly on the Site Editor, enabling site creators to build websites, design compelling layouts, and manage content without toggling between multiple configuration areas or editing code. Learn more about Gutenberg updates debuting since WordPress 6.2 by reviewing prior editions of What’s New in Gutenberg posts for 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 16.0, and 16.1 (post pending.) WordPress is the result of contributions by users, developers, and extenders across the globe. As this community seeks new features, the platform will continue to evolve, including the site editing features and beyond. Get an overview of the 6.3 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.3-related posts in the coming weeks for further details. A first look at 6.3 This latest WordPress release includes many updates spanning all platform areas, emphasizing the editing experience and polishing usability. This release contains more than 500 new features and enhancements and 400+ bug fixes. Performance Following the incredible performance improvements introduced in 6.2, the release includes more than 170 performance-related updates, including adding defer and async support to the WP Scripts API and fetchpriority support for images. Optimizations were made to block template resolution, image lazy-loading, and the emoji loader, all of which benefit LCP performance. Support for PHP versions 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 has been improved. Site Editor The Site Editor expands to include navigating and editing pages, styles, templates, and content. The unified site editing experience will include a distraction-free mode, enhanced navigation, and an improved loading experience. Additionally, you can use the Site Editor to preview a block theme and adjust your site before activating the new theme. This release includes style revisions so you can toggle between and preview different saved styles. Rounding out the changes, 6.3 ushers in a new Command Palette, enabling users to context switch and perform actions quickly across different sections of the site editing experience. Prototype of the Command Palette in action Blocks New blocks for details, time-to-read, and footnotes debut in this release, along with updates for better handling of image aspect ratios and improved fallback states. Spacer blocks now include presets, and the cover block gets updates for managing text colors and layout support. The new height control for the Spacer block Patterns and Design Reusable blocks have been renamed to synced patterns. This change reflects the unification of reusable blocks and traditional block patterns (unsynced patterns) within the Editor. A new option allows you to assign patterns to templates, adding the ability to have starter patterns to speed up the creation process. Site creators can now easily create, save, and manage custom synced and unsynced patterns, as well as browse a directory of curated patterns. Additionally, the duotone filter and captions can now be edited in the Styles interface. Style your captions in the new Styles interface Usability Some key usability highlights include toolbar updates, updated template descriptions, enhanced list view drag-and-drop, improved padding and margin controls, and a new area for managing patterns (including reusable blocks, now called synced patterns.) Link control receives some updates, rounding out high-level usability enhancements in 6.3. Add and modify descriptions for templates Accessibility WordPress remains steadfast in making the site-building experience accessible to everyone. 6.3 incorporates over 50 accessibility improvements across the platform. Improved labeling, optimized tab and arrow-key navigation, revised heading hierarchy, and new controls in the admin image editor allow those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technology to navigate more easily. The login form, installation steps, and list tables (for sorting and selection) have all been updated. Additional accessibility tickets are viewable in the WordPress Trac. Other notes This release includes auto-rollback for failed manual updates of themes and plugins. Please note that the features in this list may change before the final release. Testing makes WordPress stronger! Testing for issues is a critical part of developing any software, and it’s a meaningful way for anyone to contribute—whether you have experience or not. While testing the upgrade process is essential, testing new features is too. Review the many new features listed above and focus your testing efforts on those areas in particular. If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can file one on WordPress Trac. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs. New to testing? This detailed guide is a great place to start if you’ve never tested a beta release. Want to know more about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on the Making WordPress Slack. Vulnerability bounty doubles during Beta 2 Between the Beta 2 release and the final release candidate (RC) for each new WordPress version, the monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities is doubled. Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the HackerOne page and in the security white paper. Get WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 You can test WordPress 6.3 Beta 2 in three ways: Option 1: Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream). Option 2: Direct download the Beta 2 version (zip). Option 3: Use the following WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.3-beta2 The current target for the final release is August 8, 2023, which is about six weeks away. Your help testing this version ensures everything in this release is the best. The first haiku for 6.3 A chapter closes Excitement yet much newness Phase 2 finale Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: @DanSoschin, @Meher, @JPantani, @CBringmann, @AudrasJB, @annezazu, @ndiego, @davidbaumwald, @desrosj, @priethor, @flixos90, and @JPantani for authoring the haiku. View the full article

Join WordPress guest host, Chief of Staff and Head of Operations, Chloé Bringmann, and special guest Head of Programs and Contributor Experience, Angela Jin, in the 58th episode of the WordPress Briefing as they discuss the next generation of WordCamps. Credits Guest Host: Chloé Bringmann Guest: Angela Jin Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Brett McSherry Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Show Notes WordCamp Europe 2023 Keynote Establishment of a formal WordPress Sustainability Team WordPress 6.4 Development Cycle Announced WCUS – Still looking for volunteers The Next Generation of WordCamps Idea generation: Next Gen WordCamps! Discussion: Next Generation Event Tooling Twenty Years of WordPress at WCEU Contributor Handbook Transcript (Intro music) [Chloé Bringmann 00:00:10] Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your guest host Chloé Bringmann. And here we go. (Intro music) [Chloé Bringmann 00:00:40] So I have the privilege of guest hosting this episode of the WordPress Briefing. And today I have with me a very special guest. The Head of Programs and Contributor Experience, Angela Jin. Welcome. Before we dive into all the questions, can you tell me and our listeners a little bit about your role in the WordPress community? [Angela Jin 00:01:01] Yeah, happy to, and thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited to be here. I am the Head of Programs and Contributor Experience, and I provide oversight and guidance for our WordPress programs, such as our events programs, training, and Five for the Future, with an eye toward ensuring their sustainability and growth. I’m very fortunate to work with our contributors across many teams around the world. In addition to troubleshooting and helping folks figure out how to move forward, I also spend a good amount of time exploring with others what could be in our programs. [Chloé Bringmann 00:01:41] We just got back from WordCamp Europe in Athens, Greece. It was such an energizing event for me, but I’m curious about what your impressions were of the past week. [Angela Jin 00:01:52] Yeah, it was fantastic. I’m always really inspired by what a group of like-minded people can achieve together. There’s a lot of passion for this particular WordCamp, and it made for a really wonderful WordPress experience. Full of lots of great connections and memories; I have a million follow-ups and probably even more thoughts to reflect on. So it’s great. There were a lot of new WordPressers there. So it was lovely to meet them. And I’m really excited to see how many exciting new projects and ideas that we have in the space. [Chloé Bringmann 00:02:27] Same, you said it perfectly. Josepha also mentioned in the flagship’s keynote, the proposal for the next generation of WordCamps. I’m curious about what the main ideas and goals, as discussed thus far, are of that proposal. [Angela Jin 00:02:42] For sure. So WordCamps have been fundamental for the WordPress community for a very long time. And while they have continued to grow larger and reach more places around the world, it’s also undeniable that the way that people meet has changed since 2006. [Angela Jin 00:03:01] And so, just as WordPress itself iterates we’re looking at iterating on WordCamps so that they move from fundamental to indispensable for the WordPressers of today and tomorrow. So event attendees today are looking to learn essential skills, make connections that lead to neat opportunities, and more. [Angela Jin 00:03:23] So to that end, we put forth an updated purpose for our events, which is that WordPress events spark innovation and adoption by way of accessible training and networking for users, builders, designers, and extenders. We celebrate community by accelerating 21st-century skills, professional opportunities, and partnerships for WordPressers of today and tomorrow. [Angela Jin 00:03:47] So the goal here is to create events that are more clearly defined – who these are for what you will gain from attending. We are looking to see events that take a deeper dive into content, or topics and provide more advanced content. And let’s try out some different formats and see how that shapes our event experience. And so it is a big shift. And change is always hard. [Angela Jin 00:04:13] However, the feedback that I’ve gotten so far, and certainly at WordCamp Europe, is that this is a very welcome evolution. And the Community team has already received over 60 proposals. So I’m very excited about that. In fact, a WordPress Community Day in Rome has already been announced and is focused on providing meet-up organizing and community management skills. So that’s pretty cool. [Chloé Bringmann 00:04:37] Wow, that’s incredible. I love that we’ve gotten 60 suggestions already and that we already have an event in place. That’s fantastic. In that blog post, too, it’s mentioned that WordCamps should prioritize inclusivity and diversity. How can organizers ensure these values are upheld in the next generation of WordCamps and beyond events? Into our day-to-day project involvement? [Angela Jin 00:05:04] Excellent question. So while WordCamps themselves are changing, some of our core values, like prioritizing inclusivity and diversity, are non-negotiable. For the whole project, we have a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement, and a Code of Conduct that lays out how we expect our community to engage with each other in this space. [Angela Jin 00:05:27] And on top of that, our programs do focus on providing resources and training like how to create a diverse speaker roster. And we have diverse speaker training workshops on how to organize a diverse and inclusive WordPress event. And we also have a great list of third-party resources as well. And so, with so many events, we create a lot of opportunities to grow as a visible contributor, whether it is a speaker, a volunteer, or an organizer. [Angela Jin 00:05:56] And so with the next generation of events, we could more intentionally create these spaces for groups that historically have been underrepresented. Even long before my post went live, the BlackPress meetup group, for example, wanted to create an event that connected with historically black colleges and universities. And an event like that that really invites a specific group to learn all about WordPress would be a really great experience and a wonderful way to celebrate that community and a great connection to the broader community so that we can intentionally get to the diversity that we want to see. [Angela Jin 00:06:38] And I also want to add that the people who are underrepresented in our community are more likely to need financial sponsorship. And so even though we do keep our ticket prices low so that our events are more easily accessible, the cost of travel continues to increase, not to mention the time and energy required to participate in these events. So an excellent way that companies can help is to sponsor somebody’s time and somebody’s contributions, which we’re always trying to encourage through the Five for the Future program. [Chloé Bringmann 00:07:11] Beautiful. So, with that in mind, how do you foresee the next generation of WordCamps impacting the WordPress community, that larger ecosystem? So, what changes do you hope to see regarding community engagement, learning opportunities, and best practices? [Angela Jin 00:07:31] I foresee us evolving our tried and true event format into a dynamic wealth of community-led opportunities. I know that online events were pretty exhausting during the worst of the pandemic, but there is a ton of unexplored opportunities there. And community research is also showing that online is a great way to create more inclusive and diverse events. [Angela Jin 00:07:58] The Training team, with their learn WordPress online workshops, have really led the way with our online events. And there are so many more people that we can reach there. [Angela Jin 00:08:08] And so in addition to providing more advanced content, I also hope to see content around broader tech and business trends that influence WordPress, and conversely, how WordPress can shape those trends as well. And with all of that, I really hope that we can bring in more community members that otherwise wouldn’t be interested in what we currently offer, especially a younger generation that will help us drive the next generation of WordPress, the open source project. [Chloé Bringmann 00:08:39] Very excited to hear all of this, and I bet our listeners are too. I’m curious how they and community members can provide feedback or get involved with this next generation of WordCamps. [Angela Jin 00:08:50] I’m going to encourage everyone, please come chat with the Community team and comment on the current posts. We really welcome your feedback to help us get our events to this next iteration of what they will become. There are two posts, in particular, one is to suggest ideas of event formats and topics that you would like to see. And the second is if you are an organizer, we’re inviting you to hear some recommendations for improved tooling that would be helpful for your event site. And we’ll include links to those posts in the show notes. [Chloé Bringmann 00:09:26] One final question for you, Angela. Any thoughts as we prepare for WordCamp US and the Community Summit, which will be in National Harbor, Maryland, in August? [Angela Jin 00:09:37] For the Community Summit in particular, if you want to attend and you haven’t already applied, please please do make sure to apply as soon as possible. And encourage somebody else who you think should attend to apply as well. [Angela Jin 00:09:53] And if financial constraints are a blocker, we are aiming to help with the cost of hotel and or flight. And so one way to help support the diversity and inclusion of this event, and really to the whole project, is to also contribute to the Community Summit travel fund. You can find information about all of that on the Community Summit site. [Angela Jin 00:10:15] And next, if you have a topic in mind that you think needs to be discussed at the Community Summit, please please also share that information with us as well. And last but not least, I am, I am so excited. I’m not going to spoil anything. But I have been working with the WordCamp US organizing team and looking at some of what they have planned and some of the content. It’s going to be a truly incredible event, so don’t miss out. [Chloé Bringmann 00:010:41] Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much for joining me, Angela. And I can’t wait to see you and the WordPress community in August in person. [Chloé Bringmann 00:010:58] Which brings us now to our small list of big things. First up is the proposal and establishment of a new WordPress contributor team, the Sustainability team. Coming into WordCamp Europe, a proposal was put forward to create a team that would embed sustainable practices and processes in the ecosystem to ensure the Project’s longevity, both socially, economically, and as well environmentally. At WordCamp Europe, this proposal was confirmed, and the Sustainability team is now officially the 22nd contributor team that WordPressers can support with their contributions. Head on over to their making WordPress Slack channel, #sustainability, and join the conversation. [Chloé Bringmann 00:011:39] Second, I would like to call your attention to the 6.4 development cycle post that was published on June 5th. 6.4 will be the third major release of 2023 and supports our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by being led by those contributors that identify as underrepresented gender. This release will also be the first to kick off phase three of the Gutenberg roadmap, which is collaborative editing and workflows. I’ve included a link to the post in our show notes and encourage anyone who is interested in being part of this momentous release to join us in making this both impactful and meaningful. [Chloé Bringmann 00:012:16] Finally, WordCamp US, as discussed, will be upon us before we know it starting on August 24th at National Harbor, Maryland. While tickets may be sold out, volunteers are still very much needed to make the flagship event run smoothly. So stop by us.wordcamp.org, raise your hand, and join us in August for engagement, inspiration, and learning. And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. I’m your guest host Chloé Bringmann and thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. View the full article

Inspiring the global community The atmosphere was electric at WordCamp Europe (WCEU) 2023 in Athens, Greece, as WordPress celebrated its 20th anniversary and the opportunity to gather in person for inspiration and engagement. More than 2,500 individuals from 94 countries came together in person or through the live stream to participate in a remarkable three-day event (plus Contributor Day) filled with talks, networking, and learning opportunities. The event concluded on June 10 with a captivating keynote address by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and Gutenberg Product Architect Matías Ventura, who highlighted the advancements and upcoming milestones of the WordPress Project. One significant update shared during the keynote was the successful reactivation of WordCamps. This time last year, we organized eight in-person WordCamps, and by the end of 2022, the number had risen to 23. Thanks to the enthusiasm and involvement of the WordPress community, we are already on track to organize 25 WordCamps in the first half of this year alone. Josepha also emphasized the importance of the upcoming Community Summit on August 22-23. This in-person gathering brings contributors together across the WordPress open source project, fostering cross-project discussions vital for future growth and sustainability. For more information, visit the official Community Summit website. Discussing the Five for the Future (5ftF) program, Josepha highlighted the impressive growth in active contributors and company pledges over the past year. She also underscored the expansion of the WordPress ecosystem, citing examples like Openverse, which now provides access to nearly 800 million images and audio files, all easily accessible in the Site Editor. Another exciting addition to the WordPress repertoire is WP Playground. This new feature allows users to build WordPress applications instantly in the browser without needing a PHP server. This tool provides a swift and seamless experience, reducing the installation time from five minutes to a near-instantaneous 500 milliseconds. The application of WP Playground may seem like magic, but its practical application promises tangible and revolutionary benefits for WordPress users. Matías Ventura then took the stage to share updates on Gutenberg. Through a visually stunning video built entirely with blocks, he showcased the six-year development journey and the transition from words to blocks to a final design. The upcoming WordPress version 6.3 will mark the completion of the first two phases of Gutenberg, consolidating all these features into a cohesive and user-friendly experience. He also highlighted the introduction of features such as the Wayfinder tool, Style Book, and the ability to save patterns, further empowering users to own their web presence and voice. Following the keynote presentation, the WordPress leadership engaged in a lively Q&A session with the audience, further illustrating the continuous evolution within the WordPress Project. This session highlighted how the WordPress community innovates, iterates, and continually improves to create a better platform for today and tomorrow. Join the global community and be part of the WordPress journey toward a brighter future! Special thanks to @cbringmann and @eidolonnight for review and collaboration. View the full article

May has been a month of celebrating WordPress and the open source community that makes it possible. In honor of the project’s 20th anniversary, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy reflected on this journey and the opportunity to build a better future for those who come after: The more our community invests in itself and supports one another, the stronger WordPress and the open source software movement become. Josepha Haden Chomphosy in Celebrating 20 Years of WordPress. Read on for highlights of this milestone and the latest updates in the WordPress space. WordPress at 20 May 27, 2023, marked the 20th anniversary of WordPress’ first release. Since its inception by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003, the project has transformed the digital publishing landscape and enabled millions of people to craft their stories. WordPress enthusiasts from all over the world gathered at more than 130 events to celebrate this important milestone. WP20’s commemorative book, Building Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress, was published in tandem and documents some of the most significant moments and changes of the last decade of the project. Download the new WP20 wallpapers made in 3D. The anniversary date may have passed, but the festivities and fun aren’t over. You can still join a meetup, sign the #WP20 From Blogs to Blocks campaign birthday card, or participate in #WP20 social celebrations. Join Josepha Haden Chomphosy in Episode 55 of WP Briefing as she looks back at the 20 years of WordPress and how the community made WordPress what it is today. WordPress 6.3 is expected on August 8 Work on WordPress 6.3 officially kicked off with the announcement of its development cycle and release squad. Set for release on August 8, 2023, this version will be the second major update of WordPress in 2023 and will mark the end of Phase 2 of the project’s development roadmap. WordPress 6.3 aims to bring a cohesive site editing experience by introducing expanded functionality, richer interfaces, and a dedicated focus on refinement. Check out the 6.3 roadmap post for a tentative preview of anticipated features. WordPress 6.2.2 security release WordPress 6.2.2 became available for download on May 20, 2023. This release was a quick response to resolve a regression introduced in 6.2.1, specifically with shortcode support in block templates, and to further patch a vulnerability already addressed in the previous version. Update your site if you haven’t yet. New in the Gutenberg plugin Three new versions of Gutenberg have shipped in the last month: Gutenberg 15.7, released on May 3, 2023, brings a new direct option to upload and replace a site’s logo from the block settings sidebar. Other enhancements include easier access to duotone filter controls via the style settings sidebar and an update to fluid typography to refine responsiveness. Gutenberg 15.8 shipped on May 17, 2023, and includes a new “Pages” item in the Site Editor sidebar to edit pages without leaving the interface. Moreover, this version brings the ability to navigate through revisions in the global styles interface and to preview block themes inside the Site Editor. Gutenberg 15.9 is ready for download as of May 31, 2023. The latest Gutenberg release comes with a new command tool and several enhancements to the Site Editor experience, including a more intuitive drag-and-drop function for moving blocks. The latest Core Editor Improvement post highlights features such as revisions and the ability to preview block themes, and how they enable a smoother site editing experience. Team updates: Next-generation WordCamps, proposal for a Sustainability Team, and more The Community Team proposed broadening the purpose of WordPress events to “spark innovation and adoption by way of accessible training and networking.” This opens the door to organizing a more diverse range of formats focused on specific topics and audiences. WordPress contributors suggested creating an official Sustainability Team. The Polyglots Team rebranded the WP Translation Playground tool as Translate Live and announced improvements that make translating plugins and themes easier. The new WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program pilot aims to provide cohort-based and 1:1 mentorship to prepare new and aspiring contributors for success. Results of the 2022 WordPress Annual Survey were announced last month. The Training Team published a new course on Creating a 4-page business website. See What’s new on Learn WordPress in May 2023 for the latest learning resources. Meet Stacks—the first community theme born from the Community Themes initiative. This theme is designed for creating slide decks that can be used for a presentation. This Core proposal explores ways to reduce the maintenance of older default WordPress themes and retire them. The May 2023 issues of What’s New for Developers?, the Polyglots monthly newsletter, and the Meetup Organizer newsletter are available for reading. Find out how WordPress and its global community of contributors made a difference in Stefano Cassone’s life in the latest edition of People of WordPress. What is WordPress Playground, and why it matters? WP Briefing Episode 56 discusses the benefits and potential of this tool with special guests Rich Tabor and Adam Zielinski. Feedback & testing requests Core Team members seek feedback on the new command tool introduced in the Gutenberg plugin and its API. The latest call of the Full Site Editing (FSE) Outreach Program invites you to test some features being worked on to upgrade and polish the experience of using the Site Editor. Share your thoughts by June 8, 2023. Version 22.5 of the WordPress mobile app for iOS and Android is ready for testing. Which next generation of WordPress events would you like to see? Share your ideas and start exploring new event formats this year. WordPress events updates Get ready for WordCamp Europe 2023 from June 8-10 in Athens, Greece! The event will start with Contributor Day on June 8, followed by two days of presentations and workshops. Attendees can join a wellness track and a dedicated space to connect, among many other initiatives. The WordCamp US organizing team is calling for volunteers. For another year, the WordPress Foundation’s Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship will award funding for a woman-identifying contributor to attend WordCamp US 2023. Applications are open through June 12, 2023. WordCamp Sylhet 2023, the second ever WordCamp in Bangladesh, was successfully held on May 19-20 with its first Contributor Day. Join #WPDiversity with a free online workshop on How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events APAC. The event will take place on July 2, 2023. Don’t miss these other upcoming WordCamps: WordCamp Cartagena, Spain on June 10-11, 2023 WordCamp Montclair, NJ, USA on June 24, 2023 Join WordPress project leadership on June 10 at WordCamp Europe 2023 to hear about the latest developments and what’s next for WordPress. Check out the schedule for details. Have a story we should include in the next issue of The Month in WordPress? Fill out this quick form to let us know. The following folks contributed to this Month in WordPress: @rmartinezduque, @nahidsharifkomol, @chaion07, @devinmaeztri, @bsanevans, @ninianepress. View the full article

Join WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy in the 57th episode of the WordPress Briefing as she discusses the Contributor Mentorship Program to help increase the success of new contributors over time. Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Brett McSherry Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Show Notes WordCamp Europe 2023, Athens, Greece. This event includes a special Keynote from Matt Mullenweg, Josepha Haden Chomposy, and Matías Ventura. WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program: Pilot Program Proposal Make WordPress Community: Idea generation: Next Gen WordCamps! WordPress ‘Milestones’ volume two book Building Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress is available in several formats for download on GitHub. Transcript Read more: Episode 57: The Power of WordPress Mentorship [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:00] (Intro music) Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Joseph Hayden Chomphosy. Here we go! (Intro music) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:00:40] Over the course of this year, there has been a lot of research and examination of the contributor funnel in the WordPress community. That research confirms some assumptions about what most contributor stories have in common: the hurdles, the general paths taken, and the way that problem-solving was done. Then in February of this year, Hari Shanker published a proposal for a mentorship program for WordPress. And now we’ve got a pilot program that’s been defined and is waiting for your feedback. If you’ve not read the post about the contributor mentorship program, for one do it. But if you would rather hear a synopsis from me, don’t worry, I’m about to give you a 10-cent tour. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:01:22] First up, who is doing this? This pilot program has been outlined by a community working group. We often have working groups in WordPress, and they almost always have specific projects around events or programs, or code updates. Since this working group is focused on a project-wide program, there is project-wide representation in it. All the names are at the bottom of the post, which you can find in our show notes. But it’s got folks who contribute with code or contribute with time or contribute with design folks who are self-sponsored or corporately sponsored, just a nice mix of people. The program as a whole, though, is being stewarded by Hari Shankar, a longtime supporter of and contributor to WordPress. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:02:06] So next, what is this for? There are a few goals for the program. But the overarching goal is to increase the success of new contributors over time. We can all agree that if we were to have 1000s of new contributors every day, but they couldn’t find their way to impactful contributions or meaningful connections quickly, then we would have done them a disservice. And they probably won’t continue to be part of the community without a bit more effort. The when and the where are essentially “right now and right here,” so that brings us finally to Why. Why are we doing this mentorship program? Apart from to help people who want to contribute have an easier path to success – which frankly is enough of a reason anyway – the why is wrapped up in our overall philosophies in the project. If we believe that good ideas can come from anywhere and that contributions of any size matter. And that open source is an idea that can change our generation and that we are democratizing publishing, then bringing new people brings new ideas, and beginner contributions can grow over time. We can maintain this idea, this concept of open source, into the next generation and to future generations. And always keep our sights on the open web. To learn more about this and other project-wide initiatives, swing by make.wordpress.org/project or check the links in today’s show notes on wordpress.org/news/podcast. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:03:53] Which brings us now to our small list of big things. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:03:56] First on the list is WordCamp Europe. That’s coming up at the end of the week on June 8 through 10th in Athens, Greece. There will be a major update from Matt and friends, so even if you aren’t there in person, keep an eye out for those recordings. But for those who are there and you’re curious about the mentorship program or anything else to do with WordPress and contributing to the project, you can come find me or Angela Jin, Hari will also be there, Chloé will be there, Héctor will be there, lots of people, and we want to hear your thoughts and answer your questions. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:04:27] Second is a call for brainpower! A call for your brainstorms! On the subject of the next generation, we’ve got a discussion going on about the next generation of WordCamps. We’ve been discussing what new types and varieties might be available, and that might make sense for people as we get back to in-person events. So if you’ve got a kind of WordCamp that you’ve been desperately wanting to try, now’s the time to let folks know about it. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:04:54] And the final thing is the second volume of The WordPress history book called Building Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress is now available for download in several formats as well as on GitHub. Stop buy, give it a read, and relive some of the highlights of the past ten years of the WordPress project. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:05:12] And that, my friends, is your smallest of big things. Thanks for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I’m your host Josepha Haden Chomposy, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. View the full article

With WordCamp Europe 2023 in June, we feature Stefano Cassone, a web designer, photographer and volunteer translator, who believes his life has been transformed through WordPress and its community. The People of WordPress series shares inspiring stories of how people’s lives can change for the better through WordPress and its global community of contributors. Stefano with a laptop covered in WordPress event stickers Stefano has always been fascinated by the internet. His initial learning in the 1990s was through joining friends at a local pub where they could explore how websites were structured and learn to use chat software. This led to Stefano creating websites for fun in 1998, and his first paid job was for the shop where he bought comics. He turned to content management systems (CMS) to speed up the creation process for sites, but found he needed more documentation to really understand their capabilities. Then he read a magazine article about WordPress, a CMS which was being used to make incredible blog sites, and was supported by an international community and documentation. Over time, Stefano started using that documentation to work on websites in Italian. WordPress provides a life-changing turning point Stefano describes himself as an introvert. He found that WordPress helped him to work from home, to develop his skills and the quality of what he could produce, as well as build his self-confidence. A catalyst for the turning point in his life and career was the discovery of an area for events on the WordPress dashboard. On this page, he found a forthcoming local meetup in Rome. In November 2017, Stefano took the step to go along to this event, led by a curiosity of what he might discover and intrigued by how a software could be supported by a vast community. The topic at the event was on WP-CLI, a command line interface for WordPress. He recalled that he felt outside his comfort zone as he did not regard himself as a developer and at that point, had only used the software for simple jobs. He wondered whether using the software as his only CMS was going to be a long term option and if these meetups were suitable for him. At the meetup, people were talking about a forthcoming event, called WordCamp Rome. Through his research, he saw that there was a lot of enthusiasm for this event. This intrigued him and he wondered if it would show him that he could have a career using the software after all. Unfamiliar with WordCamps, Stefano found it difficult at first to know what he could go to and how to get involved, but he persevered and attended the event. “The WordCamp was a great discovery: talks at all levels from basic to those for developers, advanced and very advanced. I was immediately struck by the enthusiasm of the volunteers. It was an environment where I felt very comfortable, so much so, that I asked myself how I could participate in some WordCamps.” Stefano Cassone From this event, Stefano was encouraged by those he met to consider applying as a volunteer for a future WordCamp. There was also much talk at the event about ‘Slack’. It was new to Stefano, but with help from those attending, he signed up for the messaging tool Slack, used by the WordPress community. He was still unsure how he could contribute, and if he would be welcome. Joining thousands of volunteer translators of WordPress Italian General Translation Editors at WordPress Italia 2022 Stefano took the plunge and was excited to find there was a team called Polyglots. In this team, people from across the world translate the WordPress software into many different languages. He started with translating a theme he was using in his work. Little by little he became more interested in plugins and attended meetings with other translators. He offered his skills to translate into Italian themes and plugins in general and as his experience grew, he took on the volunteer role of a General Translation Editor. He also took care of the translation into Italian of the WordPress Core. More recently he has joined the group of translators for the HelpHub, which is part of the WordPress documentation system. He said: “Participating in the WordPress Slack has helped me enormously: I’ve met a lot of people who I now call friends. Moreover, by translating, I learned a lot about how themes and plugins work. “It’s a great way to contribute to WordPress, especially for someone like me who is not a developer. Translating also allows me to fully understand how WordPress works.” “I always say that translating themes, plugins, and the Core software is the best way to learn WordPress, better than any course or book.” Stefano Cassone Sharing skills to support Open Source WordPress Stefano volunteering as a photographer at a WordCamp in 2019 with other contributors. Stefano’s growing commitment to the open source WordPress project was further boosted through his volunteering. He was a volunteer at WordCamp Rome 2018 and participated there in his first Contributor Day where he had the opportunity to translate the software with others. He was also able to bring his own hobbies and skills to help the project grow and reach others. One example was his passion for photography, and he volunteered as a photographer for many other events in Italy organized by the WordPress community. He said: “This commitment to the community also allows me to have fun: being a photographer means having the opportunity to walk around the halls and capture moments of the life of a WordCamp.” The more WordCamps he attended, the more he wanted to be part of and keep contributing to the wider WordPress community. Contribution to WordPress is inspiring Stefano at the Support Table at a WordPress Contributor Day When Stefano was asked to become an organizer for the WordPress meetup in Rome in October 2019, he knew he wanted to be part of reaching and supporting more people in his area. He faced challenges with finding venues, but a greater issue was to come: the Covid-19 pandemic. Spurred on by the Italian WordPress community as a whole, he was determined that the meetup was still needed. The regular event was transformed into an online meeting. He was able to gain help from people he had met as a volunteer to share their expertise with meetup attendees. The community in Italy also worked together to put on WordCamp Italia online. It brought together the organizers of previous meetups and WordCamps, and new contributors too. Stefano volunteered in both online editions of this camp, including being part of the social and communication team. He found it to not only be a fun experience but also one that helped him grow professionally and learn from so many others. He went onto help restart the Rome WordPress meetup in-person meetings in May 2022 and was an organizer for the third WordCamp Rome and volunteering for camps in 2023. What will WordPress bring you? Stefano inspired by his journey at WordCamps asks what will WordPress bring you? “Persona and professional growth and friendship” are some of the things they have brought Stefano. Contributing boosted his confidence and willingness to try new opportunities in his work. He said: “The best thing I got out of joining the WordPress community was the chance to collaborate with some people on a working basis and, I have to say, that was incredible. Being with many of them you have an incredible opportunity to grow in knowledge, you just have to be ready to learn. With WordPress you never stop learning.” His top recommendation is: “Join your local meetup or think about organizing one, it will introduce you to an amazing world. Don’t be afraid to meet people at WordCamps and Contributor Days, because you will learn more there than in dozens of courses. Talk to people at those events and don’t worry. The WordPress community is inclusive so you’ll always feel welcome, and you will see enthusiasm like you’ve never seen at other IT events. Sign-up and get involved.” Share the stories Help share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the People of WordPress series. Contributors Thanks to Stefano Cassone (@deadpool76) for sharing about his adventures in WordPress. Thank you to Abha Thakor (@webcommsat), the late Surendra Thakor (@sthakor) and Meher Bala (@meher) for interviews, writing the feature and collaborating on images, to Chloe Bringmann (@cbringmann), Mark Smallman (@marks99), Nalini Thakor (@nalininonstopnewsuk), Mary Baum (@marybaum), and Maja Loncar (@majaloncar) for help with reviews. The People of WordPress series thanks Josepha Haden (@chanthaboune) and Topher DeRosia (@topher1kenobe) for their support. This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. #HeroPress View the full article

You did it and I think congratulations are in order! You, dear WordPress enthusiast, have helped WordPress thrive for the past 20 years. It’s an incredible accomplishment, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Did you know: WordPress is seven years older than TikTok (2016), came four years before Tumbler (2007) and the first iPhone (2007), beat Facebook to market by about a year (2004), and is about five weeks older than Tesla (July 2003). May 27, 2023, marks exactly 20 years since Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little forked b2/cafelog to create WordPress Version 0.70. Quite a bit has taken place in the past 20 years, and imagine how much more we can accomplish together in the next 20! You can read about the first 20 years of WordPress in two parts: Milestones: The Story of WordPress (2003 – 2013) Building Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress (2013 – 2023) Whether you celebrate at one of the 100+ meetup events, are strutting your stuff in some limited edition WP20 swag, or joining in a collective reflection on WordPress in your unique way on social media, WP20 is a celebration of you – the WordPress community. A Common Legacy As I scroll through the amazing photos and memories shared on social media of past WordCamps and meetups, I think about the people who got WordPress to where it is today. The thousands of contributors who patched bugs and tested new features; organized events and fostered community; or wrote documentation and translated strings — how those contributions paved the road we travel today. A road that allows more people across the globe to use WordPress and contribute to WordPress, advancing the mission of democratizing publishing and giving us a little more freedom in the world. To the giants on whose shoulders we stand, those unsung, tireless, and passionate committers working through long nights and longer weekends: all of WordPress thanks you! The dedication to and support of open source software has and will continue to ensure that WordPress endures for another 20 years and beyond. the freedom to build. the freedom to change. the freedom to share. The more our community invests in itself and supports one another, the stronger WordPress and the open source software movement becomes. And WordPress benefits, not just the present community, but future generations of contributors, entrepreneurs, educators, and enterprises large and small alike. A Shared Future If the last two decades are any indication of what lies ahead, then wow, the opportunity to innovate, lead, and sustain a versatile publishing platform will be profound! Looking ahead at the next few years, our community will navigate Gutenberg Phases 3 and 4 together, delivering features that bring easy collaboration and multillingual support directly into the software. These next steps for WordPress will ensure our legacy of creating useful, relevant, and reliable software remains strong while keeping in mind the core elements of our mission regarding accessibility, performance, and stability. By renewing our emphasis on the Five for the Future program, and continuing to elevate our standing, we can make WordPress the household name it deserves to be. We can be more recognizable in known growth markets such as the enterprise and education sectors, but also every community beyond the open source and developer communities. Opportunity abounds! When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. Clarissa Pinkola Estes There is no time like the present to invest in the future of WordPress. The community is the greatest asset within the WordPress ecosystem. This means every WordPress user, from casual bloggers to enterprise extenders, is invited to rediscover all that our community means and does, and how each one of us can further our positive impact. Through all our planning, both short- and long-term, we can ensure that WordPress never loses sight of its user. Each one of us individually, and together, can do our part to make WordPress better, just as we have done each day for the past 7,305 days. View the full article

Join guest host Rich Tabor and WordPress Playground innovator Adam Zielinski as they discuss the capabilities and promise of WP Playground in episode 56 of the WordPress Briefing. Stay tuned for your small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording. Credits Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy Guests: Rich Tabor and Adam Zielinski Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Brett McSherry and Nicholas Garofalo Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Show Notes WordPress Playground and the Playground Github repo WordCamp Gliwice WordCamp Europe 2023, Contributor Day, and WP Connect #meta-playground in the Making WordPress Slack ChatGPT WooCommerce CloudFest and Daniel Bachhuber The Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship for travel to WordCamp US 2023 Find your closest location for a WordPress 20th Anniversary celebration Changes to the WCUS event for 2023 Transcript [Josepha Haden Chomphosy Haden Chomphosy 00:00:00] (Intro music) Hello everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress Open Source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go. (Intro continues) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy Haden Chomphosy 00:00:40] Today we’re gonna spend a little time talking about WP Playground. This is a project that debuted at State of the Word in December 2022, but it was demoed for me about a month prior in November. I was, and remain, absolutely floored by the potential future applications, as well as the innovative thinking behind it. So I’ve invited a couple of excellent WordPress futurists to the show today so that we can listen in on their conversation. Welcome guys. [Rich Tabor 00:01:07] Hey everyone, I’m Rich Tabor, and I’m here today with Adam Zielinski to talk about WordPress Playground. So for those of you who don’t know what WordPress Playground is, can you tell us a little bit more about it, Adam? [Adam Zielinski 00:01:18] Absolutely. WordPress Playground is WordPress that works in your browser like there’s no server with PHP or database like there’s just your browser and JavaScript, and you can run it in so many more places that we’ll all get to. For example, I just came back from WordCamp Gliwice, where on a Contributor Day, a couple of developers got set up with WordPress in just a couple of minutes, whereas normally, it can take hours to do that. [Rich Tabor 00:01:44] Yeah, that’s, that’s pretty impressive. Do you think that, particularly for WordCamps and other demo-type areas, this would be something that’s very useful? Or what do you think would be the other problems that could be solved with WordPress Playground? [Adam Zielinski 00:01:55] Playground solves one primary problem, and that is WordPress is pretty difficult to get started with. I’m not even talking about creating your website, but let’s say, someone told you there’s this WordPress thing that you should try. Well, you Google for it, and you find installation instructions, and there’s like three hours of work for you there. So then maybe you’ll find a hosting company, and you have to pay some money. So with WordPress Playground, you can actually try it for free because there’s no cost to run it. It just runs on your device. If you’re a developer, and you want to start learning WordPress, normally you have to go through quite an extensive setup process, and there are some tools to make it easier, but maybe there’s still friction like you have to even own a computer, like a PC device or a Mac. Playground can run on your phone, and it can power interactive tutorials that you can use and just start learning there and there with zero setup. Like if you work on a product team and someone asks you to test a code change, with Playground you can just click a link and test it with no infrastructure behind it. And if you’re a company creating a plugin, you can just show your plugin in a live demo to people. And this isn’t something many plugins are doing because it’s quite hard to get a live demo set up. [Rich Tabor 00:03:12] Ah, that’s pretty impressive. So, you know, amongst like tutorials, code changes for developer environments, the mobile application running, do you think that, since there’s such a wide brevity of ideas that WordPress Playground can kind of plug into, would this be more of a developer tool? Is that right? Or is Playground more of a like a click and play-type application that can run anywhere and demo anything? [Adam Zielinski 00:03:36] I’d say it’s both, but it’s more transparent for the users. So there are a whole lot of things you can do with Playground as a developer, as I just mentioned. But who are you doing these things for? Well, some of them are for the users, as in live demos, or there’s a WordCamp Europe coming, and I know some people are doing workshops there. They are going to use Playground to get everyone set up. So now that’s, well, maybe a workshop that teaches you how to build a theme, for example, right? Now you can just get started without any setup process. So there’s both, it’s very useful for development teams, and it’s very useful for them to build stuff for the final users. [Rich Tabor 00:04:21] That’s great. I know you, and I have probably both been in the same scenario at WordCamps when you’re trying to get dev environments set up, and it takes, you know, the better half of the workshop to get to step one. So this is really gonna be interesting to see it, especially at WordCamp Europe, and to see it getting into action. Are you planning on going to WordCamp Europe this year? [Adam Zielinski 00:04:39] Absolutely, I will have a table at Contributor Day, a WordPress Playground table. So yeah, everyone’s invited to come over. I’ll show you a lot of cool stuff. And then at WP Connect on Saturday at 10:00 AM, there will be a WordPress Playground session where you’ll be able to learn more and see some cool demos. And this will be a conversational format, so we’ll just have a nice chat. [Rich Tabor 00:05:01] Super cool. So how else can people find out a little bit more info about Playground and perhaps even get involved and contribute to the project? [Adam Zielinski 00:05:08] There’s a developer.WordPress.org/playground website. There’s a link in a show notes where you’ll be able, like this is the perfect entry point to the entire rabbit hole of WordPress Playground. There’s a quite a few projects under the WordPress Playground umbrella, and they all live in a single GitHub repository where you can just find any issue that interests if you want to contribute and just start contributing. Also, there’s a Slack channel in WordPress org space called #meta-playground, and I highly encourage everyone interested in coming over to say hi. And probably one of the best places to ask questions and get acquainted with the community. [Rich Tabor 00:05:54] Oh, that’s great; I’m very intrigued about the project overall. I think that there’s an immense amount of potential, for WordPress Playground. Just last question here, like, where do you see the future of this project going? What is the most interesting application that hasn’t been done yet, or the things that are really gonna be the next level in unlocking Playground for everyone? [Adam Zielinski 00:06:12] There’s quite a few. Imagine being able to go to WordPress.org and have a WordPress demo right then and there without having to download anything. Then you customize it, and you have a button to host your website anywhere or just to download it. Imagine having a live preview for all the themes and plugins in the directory and even in WordPress core, but these are sooner than later. Maybe like, let’s talk more grandiose, shall we? So there’s this term, 1 billion new users coming online in the next, like in the nearest future, and plenty of them doesn’t even own a desktop device. Maybe they have a mobile phone, maybe they have a tablet, maybe we’re talking about a young, prospective developer somewhere. And currently, if you don’t own a desktop device, you cannot contribute to the WordPress plugin ecosystem at all. Like, we’re seeing more and more of creating themes with no code, which is really exciting. But you cannot build the plugin, really. Well, with WordPress Playground. Suddenly you can do development on a mobile device. So development tools and code editors and just the entire suite of things we use as the developers on our desktop of devices like this may come online and be available in your browser. And if you’re on a train and you just have a phone with you, but you still want to learn, how to build a plugin, well, you’ll be able to do that. Furthermore, there’s a lot of exciting opportunities with ChatGPT, as in, well, here’s a WordPress running entirely on your device. So maybe if that’s connected to ChatGPT, you’ll be able to say, well, I like fish, or like, I want two columns and a photo of a racing car on top of it. And because ChatGPT can output HTML, we connect the two, and suddenly, you can build a website entirely in your browser using natural language. [Rich Tabor 00:08:20] Man, that’s, that’s really interesting. It really does unlock the next, potentially the next like, wave of innovation in the WordPress experience, especially removing all the complications of getting set up and actually seeing what’s there. I think that it really could, be huge for users every day. [Adam Zielinski 00:08:38] Oh, here’s one more. So, edge computing is big lately, and it’s going to be bigger in the future. WordPress Playground runs on this new technology called Web Assembly, and it just happened so that a bunch of edge computing providers allows you to run web assembly on their gear. So imagine having WordPress running entirely in edge infrastructure with no centralized server. Truly decentralized WordPress. It could be big for a well cost of operating, but also for speed, but also even further down in the future. Imagine downloading the actual, you know, even WordPress around time to your device and having the entire website on your phone. So then you know, you’re on a train, you enter a tunnel, but you can still browse that WooCommerce store and add things to your cart even though there is no range at all. [Rich Tabor 00:09:32] Wow, that’s, that’s pretty crazy. How far out there do you think something like that is? [Adam Zielinski 00:09:37] It’s hard to tell. I mean, technically, it is possible. There are a lot of challenges with regard to privacy, right? And data security for the edge computing case specifically. As for the development tools, there was a Cloud Fest hackathon earlier this year where I was with Daniel Bachhuber, also from Automattic, and we led this exciting project that brought the WordPress development environment into the browser using a couple of editors that are out there, and this is too much of an MVP for actual production use yet, but we got it working, and we build an actual plugin on a phone without internet access. [Rich Tabor 00:10:19] Wow. And that was just a hackathon, just hacking at it to see what you can get. [Adam Zielinski 00:10:23] Yeah, it was two and a half days. [Rich Tabor 00:10:25] Oh, that’s awesome. That’s really cool, man. Well, this has been quite a pleasure. Thanks, Adam, for chatting all about WordPress Playground. Folks, just be sure to check out developer.WordPress.org/playground to explore, experiment, and play with WordPress Playground. This has been awesome, Adam. [Adam Zielinski 00:10:43] Thank you so much for having me, Rich. [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:10:45] What a remarkable new way of working with and experiencing WordPress. I would love to be able to find ways across the project and ecosystem to help folks see what they’re getting into before they get into it, but also, who knows what the future holds for that project. Keep an eye on it. (Musical interlude) [Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:11:10] That brings us to our small list of big things happening right now in the WordPress project. The first one is that the Kim Parel Memorial Scholarship for WordCamp US 2023 is open, and applications for it are the WordPress Foundation will once again be offering that scholarship for Travel to WordCamp US. It is for specifically for women in technology, women in the WordPress space. I’ll include a link to that in the show notes. The second thing is WordPress’ 20th anniversary is still coming, as we heard in the last podcast. So we have reached over 100 events that are scheduled on or around May 27th, which is WordPress’ launch date. There is still time to find your closest location and attend one of those events. And probably, there’s also time to pull together an event of your own. Head on over to wp20.WordPress.net if you would like to see events in your area. And the third thing is WordCamp US 2023. I realize WordCamp Europe comes before that, but the programming team actually has a really interesting thing that they’re doing this year. They have some changes to the way that they are organizing the event and finding speakers for the event. But as always, they are working very hard to make sure it is an attendee-focused event. I’m gonna include a link or two to some announcements that are really worthwhile there. Head on over to the podcast page to see those. And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Thanks again to my guests, and I’ll see y’all in a couple of weeks. View the full article

WordPress 6.2.2 is now available! The 6.2.2 minor release addresses 1 bug and 1 security issue. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 5.9 have also been updated. WordPress 6.2.2 is a rapid response release to address a regression in 6.2.1 and further patch a vulnerability addressed in 6.2.1. The next major release will be version 6.3 planned for August 2023. The update process will begin automatically if you have sites that support automatic background updates. You can download WordPress 6.2.2 from WordPress.org or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates,” and click “Update Now.” For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site. Security updates included in this release The security team would like to thank the following people for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities and allowing them to be fixed in this release. Block themes parsing shortcodes in user-generated data; thanks to Liam Gladdy of WP Engine for reporting this issue. The issue above was originally patched in the 6.2.1 release, but needed further hardening here in 6.2.2. The Core team is thankful for the community in their response to 6.2.1 and collaboration on finding the best path forward for proper resolution in 6.2.2. The folks who worked on 6.2.2 are especially appreciative for everyone’s understanding while they worked asynchronously to get this out the door as quickly as possible. Thank you to these WordPress contributors This release was led by Jonathan Desrosiers. WordPress 6.2.2 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver security fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community. Aaron Jorbin, Alex Concha, Anthony Burchell, Chloe Bringmann, chriscct7, Daniel Richards, David Baumwald, Ehtisham S., Greg Ziółkowski, Isabel Brison, Jb Audras, Jeffrey Paul, John Blackbourn, Jonathan Desrosiers, Josepha, Marius L. J., Matias Ventura, Mike Schroder, Peter Wilson, Riad Benguella, Robert Anderson, Ryan McCue, Samuel Wood (Otto), Scott Reilly, and Timothy Jacobs How to contribute To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-3-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook. Thanks to @cbringmann, @davidbaumwald, @chanthaboune, @jeffpaul for proofreading. View the full article